In Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s hour-long acceptance speech last Thursday, he mentioned Iraq only twice, Russia three times and taxes eight times. But did McCain speak the truth about his tax plan?
“I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can,” he told the Republican Party faithful gathered in St. Paul, Minn. “My opponent will raise them.”
That argument is repeated in various McCain-sponsored
ads that attack Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s tax plan, including
statements that Obama backs “painful tax increases on working American
families” and that Obama and the Democrats are “ready to tax, ready to
spend.”
But
a nonpartisan analysis of McCain’s and Obama’s tax proposals show that
McCain is simply repeating a lie over and over. Obama will not raise
taxes on the middle class and working families, as McCain alleges. But
he will raise taxes on the wealthy.
McCain, on the other hand, will give rich people big tax breaks, while the middle class won’t be as lucky if the Arizona Republican becomes president. In fact, people who earn the average Wisconsin
income of $34,476 would see their tax bill decrease $892 under Obama.
But they’d get a much smaller tax break—$113—under a President McCain.
The Average Taxpayer Would Do Better Under Obama
The
nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that while McCain would cut taxes
overall to a greater degree than Obama, McCain’s plans would also
increase the national debt more than Obama’s plan would because McCain
hasn’t offset those tax cuts with spending cuts. The candidates would
both cut taxes, but they are giving tax breaks to very different
Americans. McCain’s tax cuts are targeted to the wealthy and the
ultra-wealthy, while Obama would cut taxes on middle class wage
earners and those who are struggling.
The Tax Policy Center
found that middle-income taxpayers would see a 3% increase in their
after-tax earnings, about $1,400, under McCain’s plan. But these same
average American taxpayers would have more in their pocket—about $2,200
annually, or a 5% increase in their earnings—under Obama.
Contrast
that to how the wealthy would make out under McCain, who would give
more tax breaks to the top earners than President Bush did. The
Republican would cut taxes on the wealthiest 1% by more than $125,000,
while Obama would do the opposite and raise their taxes by about
$19,000 annually.
Take, for example, people who earn more than
$2.8 million a year. These lucky folks will get a tax break of more
than a quarter of a million dollars—$269,364, according to the Tax
Policy Center—if McCain becomes president. But these high earners would
get an average tax increase of $701,885 under Obama, which means that
the wealthy would be shouldering more of the tax burden. McCain would
let them off the hook. But if you’re not as wealthy as these folks,
McCain isn’t as generous.
Those who earn less than $161,000
would see a smaller tax break under McCain than under Obama. But you
won’t hear that in McCain’s false attack ads.
What’s your take? Write: editor@shepex.com or comment on this story online at www.expressmilwaukee.com.
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