1) "Obama wants to raise your taxes!" No. If you make more than $250,000 per year, Obama will repeal the Bush tax cuts on your income. Otherwise, you will see no tax increase.
2) "Obama announces that he wants to invade Pakistan!" That McCain won't stop saying this is illustrative of his desperation. Obama said that he would attack top Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan if Pakistan is unwilling or unable to do it. That is definitely not the same as "invading Pakistan". Good grief.
Bonus: Sarah Palin accuses Obama of "palling around with terrorists". Here is the "terrorist" to whom she refers. Be very afraid. Ayer's association with Obama includes hosting an event during Obama's first senatorial run, and sharing a spot with him on the board of two non-profit organizations. According to the Associated Press, "No evidence shows they were “pals” or even close when they worked on community boards years ago."
The McCain campaign is grasping at straws. One can not blame them as they slide in polls.
Missouri, by God!
5 comments:
Obama does indeed plan to increase taxes for the middle class, specifically for taxpayers making as little as $35,000 per year. Obama intends to increase the capital gains tax, a tax paid on the difference between the purchase price and sale price of an asset. The majority of taxpayers who paid the capital gains tax in 2006 made $55,000 per year or less. Further, Obama's plan to increase taxes for taxpayers making $250,000 per year would affect the vast majority of small business owners in the United States, and would inevitably increase prices at the cash register.
As a social liberal, I disagree with many of the key issues in the McCain-Palin ticket, including but not limited to gay marriage, civil rights, abortion, the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, energy, and environmental policy. I am still going to vote the ticket, because Barack Obama is an unapologetic socialist, and I think that having a leader with that kind of thinking poses a direct threat to our way of life. Not only is Obama's rhetoric clearly socialist, but he surrounds himself with socialists. He campaigned for the self-proclaimed communist Bernie Sanders. He made an open communist his head blogger. He was mentored by Frank Marshall Davis and Bill Ayers, the former a communist poet, and the latter a domestic terrorist. His father fought for socialism his entire adult life, writing "Theoretically, there is nothing that can stop the government from taxing 100% of income so long as the people get benefits from the government commensurate with their income which is taxed... I do not see why the government cannot tax those who have more and syphon some of these revenues into savings which can be utilized in investment for future development."
Is this really the man you want to run the country? A privileged, socialist, academic? The man who would raise taxes on Americans "for fairness", while simultaneously dumping $800B into the UN through the Global Poverty Act?
Thanks for your comments, James. I don't know where you get your facts, but as far I can tell, you're wrong on several points. Everything I've read indicates that Obama will raise, from 35 to 39%, the top tax bracket, and that everyone else will pay less. Capital gains tax will increase only for those in the top 2 tax brackets (those making more than $250,000). Also, upwards of 90% of small business owners make less than $250,000 per year, so the increase would not affect them.
As for his "associations", it's certainly difficult to be a carreer politician without ever associating with anyone who carries some kind of baggage. But the accusation that he was mentored by, or "palled around with" (as Palin put it) Ayers seems especially pathetic based on everything I've been able to find out.
Let me know if you think I'm wrong about any of that.
It seems odd to me that you are so afraid of Obama's percieved leftist leanings that you would ignore your social values in order to prevent Obama from taxing rich people and decreasing taxes on the middle class, in favor of McCain's plan to massively decrease taxes on top income earners. I really don't see what's better about that.
But the best reason to not vote for McCain is Palin. James, my friend, you KNOW that lady is whack, yo? Yes, it is terrifying that she would be a heart beat away from the presidency, but more importantly, what does her selection say about McCain's judgement and values?
Also, I'm in favor of fighting poverty through the UN.
You make a lot of points Trey, but I will try to cover as many as I can.
First and foremost, I should begin by pointing out that a tax increase for income earners with AGI in excess of $250,000 is a de facto tax increase for all taxpayers. Why should this be so? The effective tax rate for products and services is already incorporated in the price setting process of businesses. An increase in the taxes businesses results in an increase in prices paid at the register. (The same reason tax cuts for the "wealthy" are generally good for us, because they increase competition.) In the case of businesses with more than $250,000 in AGI, this marginal tax rate would increase by 12.7% or more under the Obama plan, the highest in the industrialized world (more than Germany and France!). A $1,000 tax cut at $45,000 AGI is a pretty raw deal with 1970s inflation.
Among the proposals Barack Obama has discussed:
* Increasing the Social Security Tax Rate
* Expanding the AGI subject to Social Security Tax to > $100,000
* Increasing the capital gains tax
* Discontinuing Bush Administration tax cuts
* Increasing the tax rate for the top income brackets
Obama's proposed changes to Social Security amount to class-warfare, a direct redistribution of wealth from the top income earners to the middle class. Why is this the case? Social Security is a "pay as you go" benefit system, not social welfare. The benefits you receive are proportional to the amount of your contributions. Obama plans to lift the cap on Social Security earnings subject to the tax, but without a corresponding increase in benefits. Today I pay no SSI on my income greater than $100,000, tomorrow I pay 12% but get no additional benefits.
Further, AGI levels such as $250,000 are completely arbitrary, because they are relevant only at the time they are initiated. Inflation guarantees that we will all make $250,000 per year sooner or later. And since the strategy of the Federal Reserve seems to be to let inflation take care of the housing bubble, you can bet that time is coming very soon.
I will concede that Obama has attempted to clarify points like the capital gains tax in his plan since July 2008, but these clarifications are really just concessions made to win the election. What he does once he is elected, as we well know from the Bush, is entirely up to him.
As to Obama'a associations, it is one thing to have an association with a questionable character, and quite another to be mentored by one (as in the case of Frank Marshall Davis). Obama *campaigned* for Bernie Sanders. Obama hand-picked an openly communist journalist to be his official blogger. He did not pick his father, though he wrote a book for and about him, but he surely picked his wife. (I recommend reading Obama Sr.'s papers. They are familiar ideas.)
Obama believes in the basic tenets of socialism. He believes in public ownership of property, redistribution of wealth, democratic control of the workplace, and planned economies. I am willing to part with some line items in my social values because I recognize the danger of Obama's social values.
And finally, as to Palin, well, all I can say is that there are enough democrats around to keep her busy.
good post Trey!
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