Democrats Declare Tax War on the Middle Class

The Democratic Party has declared a tax war on the American middle class. Whether Clinton or Obama become their nominee, if the Democrats win, the Middle Class loses. The reason is both candidates have promised to repeal the Bush tax cuts. In the Democratic twisted view of reality, all tax cuts are evil because they only benefit the wealthy, the so-called "fat cats" or "filthy rich."

So, who are these "fat cats" or "filthy rich" who have benefitted from President George W. Bush's tax cuts? Are they only the millionaires and billionaires? Far from it. Instead, they are the vast majority of middle class Americans. Here's the proof from the Tax Foundation.

Note: These figures do not take into account the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) that these taxpayers may have had to pay. They presume the taxpayers have no dependents and are taking the standard deduction.

Back in 1999, when Bill Clinton was still President, if you were single and making $30,000 per year, you paid $3,158 in federal taxes. Today, under President George W. Bush, you paid $2,756 or 13% less than under Clinton. If you were married and filing jointly with an income of $60,000 per year, under Clinton, you owed $6,585 in federal income taxes. In 2008, under Bush, you owed only $5,513 or 16% less.

If you are a little better off and make $50,000 as a single person, you paid $7,263 in federal income taxes under Clinton, but only $6,606 or 9% less under Bush. A married couple filing with a joint income of $75,000 paid $9,427 under Clinton, but only $7,763 or 18% less under Bush.

For the upper middle class, singles making $75,000 per year paid $14,263 in taxes under Clinton. Under Bush, they pay $12,856 or 10% less. For married couples with a joint income of $125,000, they paid $23,427 under Clinton and $19,463 or 17% less under Bush.

Another way to look at it is when Tax Freedom Day falls. Tax Freedom Day is the day when the average American taxpayer stops working just to pay taxes (local, state, and federal) and starts earning income for personal use. In 2000, Tax Freedom Day was May 3rd, the latest in history. In 2008, we celebrated Tax Freedom Day on April 23rd. Despite the Bush tax cuts, the average American worker pays more in taxes than on food, clothing, and housing combined.

The danger to all American taxpayers, if the Democrats win the White House or continue to control Congress, is the Bush tax cuts will not be made permanent. Many taxpayers do not realize that the Bush tax cuts are scheduled to "sunset" in 2011. According to the Tax Foundation's "The Effect of Temporary Tax Relief on a Typical American Family of Four" report,

"If Congress and the President do not act to make permanent the Bush tax cut, known formally as the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), a family of four earning the median income can expect its federal income tax bill to increase by $2,681 between 2010 and 2011, a 48.8 percent increase. This will amount to 3.3 percent of the family’s adjusted gross income in that year and roughly equals what the average family of four spends on out-of-pocket health care costs each year."

What will happen if Bush's tax cuts are not made permanent, a move most Democrats oppose? The 10% tax bracket for the lowest income workers will increase to 15%. The child tax credit which will be $1,000 in 2010 will be reduced to $500. And, married couples will once again pay a marriage penalty. Because married couples pay the majority of all federal income taxes, they were the biggest beneficiaries of the Bush tax cuts and stand to loose the most if they are sunsetted (eliminated). These are only some of the painful results that are scheduled to occur on January 1, 2011.

The greatest irony is that if the Democrats get their way and do not make the Bush tax cuts permanent, then the top 20% earners will pay a smaller percentage of the total tax liability than they do now with the Bush tax cuts. In other words, the "fat cats" or "filthy rich" will pay 78.7% or 3% less of all federal income taxes under the Democrats' plan than the 81% they currently pay under the Bush plan. Is this why the wealthiest Americans contribute more to Democratic than Republican candidates?

Source: The Tax Foundation http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/22958.html

Other recommended Tax Foundation reports are:
U.S. Federal Individual Income Tax Rates History, 1913-2008 http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html
The Effect of Temporary Tax Relief on a Typical American Family of Four http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/134.html
The Effect on a Typical Family of Four of Accelerating Scheduled Tax Cuts and Making Temporary Tax Relief Permanent http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/130.html
Impact of Bush Tax Cuts on AMT and Non-AMT Returns for 2007 Under Current Law http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22424.html
Married Couples Pay Majority of Federal Income Taxes, Received Majority of Bush Tax Cuts http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/66.html
The Tax Code's Day of Reckoning: January 1, 2011 http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/1476.html
Comparing the Kennedy, Reagan and Bush Tax Cuts http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/323.html
Comparing Popular Tax Deductions to the Bush Tax Cuts http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22447.html

Give a Man Enough Rope & He'll Hang Himself

It is not often that a politician produces his own noose to hang himself. Obama is the exception. The real Barack Hussein Obama is coming out slowly but surely.

It is no surprise to me to find out he is an arrogant liberal elitist. It is very much a surprise that a liberal elitist blog, The Huffington Post, is the one that outed him. They quoted him speaking about the economic malaise of the middle class,

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Clearly, Obama is clueless about people like myself, a disabled American middle class worker. My values do not change with the times. I am a Life Member of the National Rifle Association (NRA). I am pro-gun rights in good times and bad. The Second Amendment makes gun ownership a fundamental right under the Constitution. Likewise, I cling to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ regardless of my economic circumstances. I have opposed open borders, illegal immigration, and free trade for years, during times of prosperity and times of recession. I believe in the sovereignty of the United States at all times. Our Founding Fathers understood that a strong country protected its borders and its manufacturing base. Thus, they wisely forbade the income tax, preferring to raise the Federal government's operating funds through tariffs and duties on imports.

Obama's campaign is trying to repair the damage caused by his remarks at the San Francisco campaign fundraiser for the wealthy. At a Pennsylvania rally, he tried to fix it by saying:

"Lately there has been a little typical sort of political flare up because I said something that everybody knows is true, which is that there are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana, in my hometown in Illinois who are bitter. They are angry. They feel like they have been left behind. They feel like nobody is paying attention to what they're going through.

"So I said, well you know, when you're bitter you turn to what you can count on. So people, they vote about guns, or they take comfort from their faith and their family and their community. And they get mad about illegal immigrants who are coming over to this country.

"The truth is that these traditions that are passed on from generation to generation, those are important. That's what sustains us. But what is absolutely true is that people don't feel like they are being listened to.

"And so they pray and they count on each other and they count on their families. You know this in your own lives, and what we need is a government that is actually paying attention. Government that is fighting for working people day in and day out making sure that we are trying to allow them to live out the American dream."

Hillary Rodham Clinton was correct to call his original remarks "demeaning." She said:

"I was raised with Midwestern values and an unshakable faith in America and its policies. Now, Americans who believe in the Second Amendment believe it's a matter of constitutional right. Americans who believe in God believe it's a matter of personal faith. I grew up in a church-going family, a family that believed in the importance of living out and expressing our faith. The people of faith I know don't 'cling' to religion because they're bitter. People embrace faith not because they are materially poor, but because they are spiritually rich. Our faith is the faith of our parents and our grandparents. It is a fundamental expression of who we are and what we believe. People don't need a president who looks down on them. They need a president who stands up for them."

Of course, Republicans cheered the gift of Obama's remarks. It is fantastic fodder for the Fall campaign ads if Obama is the Democratic nominee. John McCain wasted no time in exploiting Obama's self-imposed error. McCain adviser Steve Schmidt shot the first volley:

"It shows an elitism and condescension towards hardworking Americans that is nothing short of breathtaking. It is hard to imagine someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans."