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I gave the media the benefit of the doubt. I was patient. But I, along with much of the American electorate, have now
experienced three Presidential debates and not once was candidate Obama asked to explain how he can give a tax cut to 95 per
cent of working families when more than 30 per cent of them already pay zero income
tax – thanks to the Bush tax cuts. No, Messrs. Lehrer, Brokaw, and Schieffer simply let Obama say he was going to cut
almost everyone’s taxes. I did not hear the follow-up question, “What about
the 30 per cent who currently pay no taxes?” from any of the three moderators. (And, much to his discredit, nor
did I hear it from John “Bob Dole redux” McCain.)
Candidate Obama, and his friends in the mass media, are eager to let the voters know that he will tax the heck out
of people earning $250,000 or more, but will give every other working American family a $1,000 tax credit. Who hasn’t
heard that?
But did Lehrer, Brokaw, Schieffer (or McCain) even bother to remind everyone that Obama
will allow the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010? Gee, I can’t recall that
question coming up in the debates either.
We did hear McCain say that he would double the income tax deduction for dependent children from $3,500 per child to
$7,000 per child. One would think that might peak the interest of more than a few voters – at least the ones with children.
But, so far, no dice.
“All I know is that McCain equals Bush, and Obama will give 95 per cent of us a tax cut.” Well, that’s what many people believe, and that’s
what may get Obama elected - along with ACORN vote fraud and $500 million in free media publicity. As a service to the American
voter, therefore, who no doubt isn’t going to get this information from Obama’s henchmen in the media, let us
here present some actual numbers from Internal Revenue Service tax tables.
The table below shows the federal income tax that was payable under the 2000 tax
schedules, for a married couple filing jointly, before the Bush tax cuts were implemented.
That is column B, labeled “2000 Income Tax.” The “2007 Income
Tax” column (column C), shows the tax for calendar year 2007 for the same income; this of course includes the Bush tax cuts. You may want to notice the difference between
the B and the C columns, because the beneficent and benevolent Barack is going to allow that reduction in your taxes
to expire come 2010.
Column D shows the “Obama Tax rate with Obama Credit,” and reflects the effect of the $1,000 Obama tax
credit and the removal of the expiring Bush tax cuts. Column E reflects the $1,000
Obama tax credit while retaining the Bush tax cuts (which may still apply if Obama can be persuaded to renew those tax cuts.)
Finally, column F shows the “Bush Tax Rate with McCain Credit” - the effect of renewing the Bush tax cuts and applying McCain’s $7,000 per child credit.
|
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
|
|
2000
Clinton |
2007
Bush |
Obama Tax Rate |
Bush
Tax Rate |
Bush
Tax Rate |
|
Taxable |
Income |
Income |
with |
with |
with |
|
Income
|
Tax |
Tax |
Obama Credit |
Obama Credit |
McCain Credit |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
- $1,000 |
-$1,000 |
0 |
|
$10,000 |
$1,504 |
$1,003 |
$504 |
$3 |
$303 |
|
$20,000 |
$3,004 |
$2,221 |
$2,004 |
$1,221 |
$1,303 |
|
$30,000 |
$4,504 |
$3,721 |
$3,504 |
$2,721 |
$2,671 |
|
$40,000 |
$6,004 |
$5,221 |
$5,004 |
$4,221 |
$4,171 |
|
$50,000 |
$8,307 |
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