Whose Tax Breaks Will Help You More?

Obama and McCain Tax Proposals

According to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama's plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy. For the approximately 147,000 families that make up the top 0.1 percent of the income scale, the difference between the two plans is stark. While McCain offers a $269,364 tax cut, Obama would raise their taxes, on average, by $701,885 - a difference of nearly $1 million.

From The Washington Post Ok, the thing I can't get is how the American public is responding to Republican claims that "Democrats will increase your taxes." This has been the tenor for the past few days, and Palin's speech in Reno today was no exception. Republicans are lambasting Democrats and claiming they will tax Middle America to death. What the Hell people? People, seriously. Look at the chart above. Whose plan will help you? 60% of America makes less than $70,000 a year. Unless I am blind, it is Obama's plan that will benefit them most. And if we move to about $110,000 dollars per year (about 80% of the pop), you still do better under Obama. So how the fuck is it that the Democrats are killing Middle America with taxes? In all fairness, if we include capital gains increases then a bigger chuck will be affected by the Obama plan. But, most of the country that holds stock holds it in pension plans, which are except anyway. So it still doesn't affect them. Still, many people will be pay more, but they will have to subract the increase in capital gains tax from their decrease in income tax to see which benefits them more. So again, what the Hell? And lastly, most economists, inlcuding Greenspan, have said that whoever is the new President, they will have to raise taxes unless they plan to cut spending. Where is there to cut spending when the War is eating $400 million dollars per day? Ugh...why bother. How many people vote based on real numbers anyway? I am beginning to think that symbolic politics and celebrtiy matter more than anything else. Even people who would benefit from Obama's plan like to think that one day they will be in the top %15 so on principle and flawed expectation they want to keep taxes low on the upper class.