Barack Obama's gonna tax, tax, tax ya, Patrick McIlheran insists in his blog and his Sunday column.
Is that true, though? To be sure, Obama would roll back the Bush era tax breaks for the wealthy. Given the economy seemed to do OK during the 1990s, it's hard to argue reverting to that tax level would be crippling now. (Recall how Clinton's narrowly targeted tax increase was going to derail the economy?)
Moreover, nowhere in McIlheran's discussion does he discuss Obama's plans for tax relief for middle- and working-class families.
Not that that information isn't available ... it's simply that McIlheran doesn't want to share it.
From a position paper issued in tandem with Obama's Feb. 13 speech in Janesville:
Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families:
Barack Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they deserve. Obama will create a new “Making Work Pay” tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. This refundable income tax credit will provide direct relief to American families who face the regressive payroll tax system. It will offset the payroll tax on the first $8,100 of their earnings while still preserving the important principle of a dedicated revenue source for Social Security.
The “Making Work Pay” tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans. The tax credit will also provide relief to self-employed small business owners who struggle to pay both the employee and employer portion of the payroll tax. The “Making Work Pay” tax credit offsets some of this selfemployment tax as well.
Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit:
Barack Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university. And by making the tax credit fully refundable, Obama’s credit will help low-income families that need it the most. Recipients of this credit will be required to conduct 100 hours of public service a year, either during the school year or over the summer months. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year’s tax data to deliver the credit at the time that tuition is due, rather than a year or more later when tax returns are filed.
Expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit:
The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit provides too little relief to families that struggle to afford child care expenses. Currently the credit only covers up to 35 percent of the first $3,000 of child care expenses a family incurs for one child and the first $6,000 for a family with two or more children. And the credit is not refundable, which means that upper-income families disproportionately benefit while families who make under $50,000 a year receive less than a third of the tax credit. Barack Obama will reform the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by making it refundable and allowing low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for their child care expenses. Coupled with Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax credit, this proposal will help put more money directly in the pockets of hardworking low and middle-income parents.
Capper succumbs to Obama's messianic charm here.
What cuts through the Paddy fog is quite simply, he worships the rich.
Posted by: kr | February 18, 2008 at 08:04 AM