Posted by
Concerned American on Sunday, September 21, 2008 11:11:41 PM
Obama
will increase taxes. About this there is no disagreement. He promises to raise
income taxes on family incomes of $200,000 or more, which he says will only hit
the wealthiest 5% of Americans. But that is not the whole story. Obama’s
claim that he will only raise taxes on the wealthiest 5% is a brazen fiction
that goes unchallenged by the MSM. Here is what Obama really plans to do with regard to taxes.
Impose
social security taxes on all income, without a cap (as we have now): This tax increase will hit wage
earners who exceed the current cap (currently $97,500) with an additional 6.2%
tax on wages over this limit, and almost no one mentions that an equivalent tax
will have to be paid by employers. Taxing business is no way to stimulate the economy;
it will cause less hiring or even job losses. Self-employed workers will pay
double, or a 12.4% additional tax on income above the limit.
Double
the tax on dividends from 15% to 30%: A large number of Americans (far more than 5%), including many
seniors, live partly on income from dividends. Now they keep 85% of what they
earned; under Obama it will be only 70%. Disposable incomes will drop and
buying power will be reduced, hurting both consumers (especially senior
citizens) and the economy.
Raising
capital gains taxes from 15% to 28%: Anyone who owns stocks and mutual funds will see capital gains
taxes nearly doubled, and this includes far more than 5% of Americans.
Approximately 52% of American adults own stocks directly or indirectly (in
retirement plans, for example) and 8.5 million people paid capital gains taxes
in 2006. Increasing capital gains taxes cannot help the stock market; it would
likely cause declines in stocks, hurting investments and retirement plans for
most Americans. And don’t forget real estate; investment properties that have
appreciated in value are subject to capital gains as well. If higher tax
revenues are the goal, history has shown that decreasing the capital gains tax
rate has always generated an increase in revenues. In the three years
following capital gains tax rate cuts in 1981, 1997, and 2003 the capital gains
tax revenue increased 49%, 49%, and 88%, respectively. In contrast, when the
capital gains tax rate was increased in 1986, revenue dropped 44% over the
following three years. When asked by Charles Gibson why he wants to increase
capital gains tax rates when history has shown that decreasing rates is what
brings higher tax revenues, Obama’s response was revealing. He said he to raise
the tax rates “for purposes of fairness,” regardless of the consequences. This
is the kind of thinking we can expect from Obama; increasing taxes to
redistribute income, even if it means an overall decrease in the nation’s
prosperity. His response shows his near socialistic beliefs and telegraphs his
true intentions.
Cancel
the planned elimination of the estate tax: Obama and democrats will likely
re-establish a limit above which taxes must be paid. The old rate was as high
as 55%. I haven’t heard Obama give any numbers; he only confirms he will
re-impose the tax. Small business owners and farmers get whacked with this when
they try to pass on assets to their heirs, often requiring farms to be sold and
businesses to be liquidated to pay the taxes.
Bottom
Line: Barack Obama will be increasing taxes on most Americans, not just the
wealthiest 5%, through multiple types of tax increases delineated above. The
consequences will be a weakened economy, job losses, and lower prosperity for
the nation. But he isn’t telling anyone, and the MSM is covering for him. Given
the current problems with the housing market and the banking system, it is
scary to imagine the shambles a President Obama would make out of the economy.