The American tells us how, and also tabulates the end results:
"As the chart shows, Obama’s give-and-take tax policy results in marginal tax rates of 34 percent to 39 percent in the $31,000 to $45,000 income range for this family. That’s an increase of 13 percentage points or more from the current rates.""
"While Obama has publicly embraced a tax rate of 40 percent for couples earning over $350,000, his tax policies would result in a staggering 45 percent effective marginal rate in the $110,000 to $120,000 income range for this family. That is 11 percentage points higher than under current law."
"Unfortunately, Senator Obama’s proposed 'tax cuts for the middle class' are actually marginal rate hikes in disguise."
More on the "empty suits" great economic ideas:
ReplyDeleteExhibiting a depth of economic knowledge reminiscent of a cookie sheet, Barack “Tire Gauge” Obama released a six-page policy paper to pass for a serious “emergency economic plan,” otherwise known as income confiscation and redistribution. One part of his plan would extort billions of dollars in what he considers “windfall profits” from America’s oil companies over the next five years to pay for another one-time stimulus check ($500 for individuals or $1,000 for families) to offset the rising costs of energy this winter. Big Oil is a handy target for Obama, given, for example, ExxonMobil’s recent $11-billion quarterly profit announcement. But economist Mark Perry points out that Exxon’s tax bill this year ($61.7 billion for the first half of 2008) will outstrip the entire tax contribution of the lower 50 percent of all American wage earners. Furthermore, Exxon’s profit margin was only 10 percent—not at all out of line with most businesses and not exactly a “windfall.” (In a bit of unwelcome news for Obama this week, the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics noted that his campaign has received more money from Exxon employees, $42,000 to $35,166, than the McCain campaign. Obama also received more money from Chevron and BP. So much for the Demos’ too-clever new website, “Exxon-McCain ‘08.”)
The other portion of Obama’s plan would set up both a $25-billion fund to help struggling state governments address their own budget deficits and a $25-billion boost for the federal highway trust fund. It’s less clear from where that $50 billion in revenue shifting will emanate. Naturally, Obama’s plan lacks the specifics regarding which states and projects will benefit, but given that much of it will go to states that are in a deficit situation, his plan would reward states engaging in reckless spending while providing no help for spendthrift states. As usual with Big Government, no good deed (or success story) will go unpunished.
hattip: Mark at Patriot PostUSA