Taxes!

An email is now circulating the Internet touting John McCain’s tax policy. Unfortunately, virtually every statement in that email is a simply not true. Folks are trying to hoodwink you, or scare you into voting against someone rather than for something.

Now look, we all know our country is in bad financial straits. We’ve got an enormous federal deficit…

…a plummeting housing market…

…skyrocketing oil prices…

…and an increasing disparity in wealth.

How did this happen?

Despite their claim of “understanding the economy,” economic growth under Republican presidents has been consistently poor.

Ever since the Reagan Revolution, they've used budget deficits to fund their “tax cuts”, effectively taxing future generations.

And who benefits? Let’s just say that income disparity increases every time a Republican inhabits the White House.

So what can we take away from all this?

In this election, the candidates’ tax policies are very different and very important. But they’re not very surprising or new.

As GOP standardbearer, John McCain wants to continue the Bush/Cheney policies. Though he used to be against tax cuts for the wealthy, he’s now for them. He also used to be against offshore drilling and subsidies to big oil companies, but now he’s for those too.

In contrast, Barack Obama would cut taxes for 95% of America’s households, eliminating the Bush/Cheney tax cuts for the rich. He would ensure a level-playing ground, and enforce a pay-as-you-go mandate within the federal government.

The net result…

According to a full report by the conservative Tax Policy Center…

• If your individual income is more than $250,000 (5% of us), McCain will cut your taxes a great deal.

• If your individual income is less than $100,000 (85% of us), Obama's tax policies will save you far more money.
  
  

• If you're in the remaining 10%... you're on your own.

See the graph below for an overview.