Obana tries to Buy Senior Vote
Here comes another economical policy that is bad for the country. Barack Obama wants to buy the senior vote by promiseing a tax cut for those on retirement. His plan called a tax cut is nothing more then an attempt to purchase the vote by eliminating present taxes on the elderly and thier income.
Although I would like to see an ease in the taxes my parents are paying. This plan spells disaster in the long run. My parents are part of the greatest generation, however this plan is aimed at the baby boomers. Most of which are liberal in thier political beliefs and have a very poor sense of economics 101.
The Obama campaign would give tax cuts averaging about $1,400 to 7 million seniors who are battling inflation with mostly fixed incomes. The campaign also says the plan would relieve millions of older people from having to file complicated tax returns.
"If you work hard and pay into the system, you've earned the right to a secure retirement," says a description of the plan on the Obama campaign's web site. "But too many seniors aren't getting that security, even though they've held up their end of the bargain. Lower and middle income seniors are struggling as their expenses on health and energy skyrocket while their incomes do not keep pace."
Notice how the blame for poor planning for the future is ignored. While a hint of government aid is implied. This is more of the redistribution of wealth and realignment of responsibility to the youth, in order to provide for others.
A review of this plan by the Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, gives this plan bad grades in a recent study of the two presidential candidates' tax plans.
Seniors already get preferential treatment in the tax code. They are also allowed to claim an additional standard deduction and only a portion of their Social Security benefits are taxed. Many don't pay payroll taxes because their income is from investments rather than wages.
"The proposal would exempt comparatively well off, though not affluent, senior citizens from taxes and give them a benefit not generally available to working Americans," said the Tax Policy Center paper. It "helps only those low-income seniors who currently pay income taxes. Those too poor to owe any tax - arguably those most in need - would get no benefit."
After reading this brief, one has to wonder who is really for the rich and who is for the poor when it comes to tax breaks.
Even AARP is not enthused by this plan as an AARP bulletin on the presidential candidates' tax plans barely mentions it, noting that Obama's proposal could partly offset additional taxes that Obama would impose on seniors through higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains. There is the catch. Obama still plans to increase taxes on everyone.
Tax experts across the spectrum also fault the Obama plan's abrupt $50,000 per year threshold. As described by the campaign, seniors making $48,000, for example, would pay no income tax, while someone with income slightly more than $50,000 could pay several thousand dollars in income taxes. Seniors nearing the $50,000 threshold would have an incentive to quit working. This leads to the conclusion that a cap on how much one can earn before being held to tyrannical taxes.
The proposed new tax break for seniors is one of about a dozen tax changes proposed by Obama, including raising rates on people making more than $250,000 a year, extending most of the rest of President Bush's tax cuts, (something he publicly claims should be eliminated as they favor only the rich, yet here he wants to extend them). Subsidizing Social Security and payroll taxes for low-income workers (a political correct term for wealth redistribution)and boosting income and child care tax credits for low-income workers. there is the other catch. An extension of a welfare system by providing more beniefits paid for by the taxpayer for only a few.
Again Obama shopws lack of understanding economics 101. His intentions may be good, but his policies are flawed.
Although I would like to see an ease in the taxes my parents are paying. This plan spells disaster in the long run. My parents are part of the greatest generation, however this plan is aimed at the baby boomers. Most of which are liberal in thier political beliefs and have a very poor sense of economics 101.
The Obama campaign would give tax cuts averaging about $1,400 to 7 million seniors who are battling inflation with mostly fixed incomes. The campaign also says the plan would relieve millions of older people from having to file complicated tax returns.
"If you work hard and pay into the system, you've earned the right to a secure retirement," says a description of the plan on the Obama campaign's web site. "But too many seniors aren't getting that security, even though they've held up their end of the bargain. Lower and middle income seniors are struggling as their expenses on health and energy skyrocket while their incomes do not keep pace."
Notice how the blame for poor planning for the future is ignored. While a hint of government aid is implied. This is more of the redistribution of wealth and realignment of responsibility to the youth, in order to provide for others.
A review of this plan by the Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, gives this plan bad grades in a recent study of the two presidential candidates' tax plans.
Seniors already get preferential treatment in the tax code. They are also allowed to claim an additional standard deduction and only a portion of their Social Security benefits are taxed. Many don't pay payroll taxes because their income is from investments rather than wages.
"The proposal would exempt comparatively well off, though not affluent, senior citizens from taxes and give them a benefit not generally available to working Americans," said the Tax Policy Center paper. It "helps only those low-income seniors who currently pay income taxes. Those too poor to owe any tax - arguably those most in need - would get no benefit."
After reading this brief, one has to wonder who is really for the rich and who is for the poor when it comes to tax breaks.
Even AARP is not enthused by this plan as an AARP bulletin on the presidential candidates' tax plans barely mentions it, noting that Obama's proposal could partly offset additional taxes that Obama would impose on seniors through higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains. There is the catch. Obama still plans to increase taxes on everyone.
Tax experts across the spectrum also fault the Obama plan's abrupt $50,000 per year threshold. As described by the campaign, seniors making $48,000, for example, would pay no income tax, while someone with income slightly more than $50,000 could pay several thousand dollars in income taxes. Seniors nearing the $50,000 threshold would have an incentive to quit working. This leads to the conclusion that a cap on how much one can earn before being held to tyrannical taxes.
The proposed new tax break for seniors is one of about a dozen tax changes proposed by Obama, including raising rates on people making more than $250,000 a year, extending most of the rest of President Bush's tax cuts, (something he publicly claims should be eliminated as they favor only the rich, yet here he wants to extend them). Subsidizing Social Security and payroll taxes for low-income workers (a political correct term for wealth redistribution)and boosting income and child care tax credits for low-income workers. there is the other catch. An extension of a welfare system by providing more beniefits paid for by the taxpayer for only a few.
Again Obama shopws lack of understanding economics 101. His intentions may be good, but his policies are flawed.
