John McCain will Raise Your Taxes

well, unless you're a zillionaire, of course....

From the Tax Policy Center (a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution):

"Senator McCain's tax cuts would primarily benefit those with very high incomes, almost all of whom would receive large tax cuts that would, on average, raise their after-tax incomes by more than twice the average for all households. Senator Obama offers much larger tax breaks to low- and middle-income taxpayers and would increase taxes on high-income taxpayers. The largest tax cuts, as a share of income, would go to those at the bottom of the income distribution, while taxpayers with the highest income would see their taxes rise."

Heck, even the conservative Business Week admits that Obama's plan will benefit the middle class far more, and, unlike McCain and Bush's plans, will pay for itself rather than leave us further in debt.

Here's a Washington Post article with a graph that makes it pretty clear how both plans will work and who gets the beneifts.

Now, lest you feel sorry for those poor zillionaires who will have their taxes raised (or think you're going to become one of them in the next 4-8 years), here's some facts:

- Right now capital gains are taxed at a maxiumum of 15 percent. So if you work hard and bring home a paycheck, you get hit with 25 or 30 percent, but if you sit around while your money makes you more money, you pay only 15. There's no reason that income shouldn't be taxed the same. This will account for a lot of the "increase" on the wealthy (while the rest involves closing tax loopholes that let US companies "operate" overseas and avoid paying income tax altogether, which is flat-out wrong and un-American).

- I say "increase" because the top tax rate has actually been falling steadily through the last century. Fifty years ago, the top earners paid a whopping NINETY percent in taxes. Reagan & Bush The First dropped it from 70 way down to 31, which also accounts for a lot of the debt they racked up. So it's not unreasonable to bump it back up to 39, which, incidentally, is where Clinton raised it to in 1993, and he not only paid down the debt and left us a surplus, but we had the biggest growth of our economy in decades.

As for how McCain will actually raise your or my taxes, it's pretty sneaky -- he wants to tax employer-provided health care benefits. (and give a credit that's a fraction of the average cost for most families). So if you get wonderful, inexpensive health care coverage through your job, prepare to be stung.

And lest you think that McCain's plan might somehow make health care less expensive overall, this Economic Policy institute analysis shows that Obama's plan will cover a far greater number of people for less money. Crazy!

Them's the facts. If you read or see or hear differently, consider who's talking to you, and how much money they make.