June 14, 2008
The Facts
The TPC (Tax Policy Center) has made a study of the tax plans recently released by Barack Obama and John McCain. They have also released a brief look at the core of the two plans. TPC says in the study that McCain has been mischaracterizing [added] Obama’s plan in that it would “raise taxes for all”. They say Obama’s plan would actually cut middle-class taxes by $1000 in 2009 while McCain’s plan would cut middle-class taxes by just $300. In McCain’s plan, the top 20% of taxpayers would get a 3% reduction, while the lowest earning 60% would get less than 1%. They also report that taxpayers making more than $2.9 million would get almost $300,000 in tax breaks.
According to the report, Obama’s tax plan would raise the debt $3.3 trillion over the next ten years and McCain’s plan would raise the debt by $4.5 trillion over the next ten years. However, there are several who dispute those numbers.
On more than one occasion, McCain has said Obama’s tax plan would raise taxes on “Americans of every background” and that it would be “the largest single tax increase since WWII”. But a New York Times article says “Economists of various ideological persuasions, however, view Mr. McCain’s assessment as inaccurate or exaggerated. Some question whether Mr. Obama’s tax plan can even be characterized as an increase. Some also argue that contrary to Mr. McCain’s assertions, the Democrat’s proposals, if enacted, would actually reduce taxes for the middle class.“
My View
Just so you know, most all of the groups that study the economy and tax laws say they regard the TPC’s assessment as highly reliable based on their past. It must also be noted that people on both sides of the political fence put much value in the TPC’s past reports. So it will be interesting to see how the spin misters handle this one. They will probably stay with their standard strategies; embrace it if it supports their agenda, and spin the hell out of it if it doesn’t.
Another thing must be pointed out here; when Bush proposed the tax cuts in 2001 & 2003, McCain called it a “give-a-way to the rich”. But now that he’s running for President, he seems to have become a true Republican, in that “only the wealthy deserve the governments help”.
Filed under: Democrats, Presidential Campaign, Republicans
