Obama's plan
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In recent weeks, Sen. John McCain has been running ads making the false claim that an Obama presidency would raise everyone’s taxes. It is long past time to set the record straight, particularly in these days of economic uncertainty.
A few weeks ago, David Leonhardt of the New York Times made an extensive analysis of Barack Obama’s economic policy proposals that included information from a study of the tax proposals of both McCain and Obama carried out by the independent Tax Policy Center.
Based on that study, Leonhardt wrote, “For the bottom 80 percent of the population — those households making $118,000 or less — McCain’s various tax cuts would mean a net savings of about $200 a year on average. Obama’s proposals would bring $900 a year in savings. So for most people, Obama is the tax cutter in this campaign.”
These savings proposed by Obama resulted even when changes to tax rates for capital gains and treatment of dividends were included. His proposals would raise taxes only for those members of the population whose income exceeded $250,000, and even those rates would not return to pre-Reagan-era levels.
Yes, John McCain promises to cut taxes, but the majority of his tax cuts will go to the top 0.1 percent of earners — those making an average of $9.1 million.
How many of us can claim membership in that exclusive group?
Linda Pranke
Warrenton
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