Obama changes the meaning of "tax cut"

Interesting article from WSJ that breaks down Obama's claim that he is going to cut takes for 95% of working families.

Here's a few excerpts:

"It's a clever pitch, because it lets him pose as a middle-class tax cutter while disguising that he's also proposing one of the largest tax increases ever on the other 5% (Read last post as to why this is bad, too). But how does he conjure this miracle, especially since more than a third of all Americans already pay no income taxes at all? There are several sleights of hand, but the most creative is to redefine the meaning of "tax cut."

"For the Obama Democrats, a tax cut is no longer letting you keep more of what you earn. In their lexicon, a tax cut includes tens of billions of dollars in government handouts that are disguised by the phrase "tax credit.""

"...they are an income transfer -- a federal check -- from taxpayers to nontaxpayers. Once upon a time we called this "welfare," or in George McGovern's 1972 campaign a "Demogrant." Mr. Obama's genius is to call it a tax cut." This should throw a couple penalty flags on the field for anyone reading this....

"There's another catch: Because Mr. Obama's tax credits are phased out as incomes rise, they impose a huge "marginal" tax rate increase on low-income workers. The marginal tax rate refers to the rate on the next dollar of income earned. As the nearby chart illustrates, the marginal rate for millions of low- and middle-income workers would spike as they earn more income."

"Some families with an income of $40,000 could lose up to 40 cents in vanishing credits for every additional dollar earned from working overtime or taking a new job. As public policy, this is contradictory. The tax credits are sold in the name of "making work pay," but in practice they can be a disincentive to working harder, especially if you're a lower-income couple getting raises of $1,000 or $2,000 a year. One mystery -- among many -- of the McCain campaign is why it has allowed Mr. Obama's 95% illusion to go unanswered."

No wonder I rolled my eyes every time Obama made this claim during the debates....McCain needs to get on his ass about this....Click here to read the full article where it details all the handouts Obama wants to give to those who don't earn it....


More to come. Sorry I'm not as journalistically inclined as my friend David, so my posts usually aren't as nicely laid out and gripping (hell I wont lie, I just copy and past shit I find other places onto here). If you ever need to balance a chemical equation, I'm your man. I try my best to inform the uninformed....