Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Audacity Of Nope.
Barack Obama's promise to give tax cuts to 95 percent of working (oops, sorry, workin') families is finally getting a tiny bit of scrutiny. His plan relies on refundable tax credits to reach the 95 percent figure because fewer than half of workers make enough money to pay income tax. (Here and here.)
A refundable tax credit is one that gets paid back to all workers who qualify, even those whose income tax liability is less than the refund. It's a kind of income support for lower income workers. Those workers who don't pay income tax do pay Medicare and Social Security taxes. The implication of these facts is that, if Obama's plan is enacted, the federal government will be returning Social Security money to workers. (Here.)
Fortunately for us, the Social Security Trust Fund sits on a solid financial foundation. Oooh, wait, that's not right. Nice plan, Senator.
Obama's victory depends on large turnout among young people, the most unreliable voting demographic in America. The most reliable voting demographic is senior citizens. You've got to wonder which candidate seniors would vote for if they understood the implications of Obama's tax plan.
If John McCain really wants to win this election, he'll start scaring the pants off of grandma and grandpa about Obama's risky scheme to steal money from Social Security. If he's lucky, their fear will trickle down to the workin' class voters who don't make a lot of money and stand to benefit from Obama's giveaways, but who also need Social Security to be solvent when they start to retire.
-tdr
A refundable tax credit is one that gets paid back to all workers who qualify, even those whose income tax liability is less than the refund. It's a kind of income support for lower income workers. Those workers who don't pay income tax do pay Medicare and Social Security taxes. The implication of these facts is that, if Obama's plan is enacted, the federal government will be returning Social Security money to workers. (Here.)
Fortunately for us, the Social Security Trust Fund sits on a solid financial foundation. Oooh, wait, that's not right. Nice plan, Senator.
Obama's victory depends on large turnout among young people, the most unreliable voting demographic in America. The most reliable voting demographic is senior citizens. You've got to wonder which candidate seniors would vote for if they understood the implications of Obama's tax plan.
If John McCain really wants to win this election, he'll start scaring the pants off of grandma and grandpa about Obama's risky scheme to steal money from Social Security. If he's lucky, their fear will trickle down to the workin' class voters who don't make a lot of money and stand to benefit from Obama's giveaways, but who also need Social Security to be solvent when they start to retire.
-tdr
Labels: America, Elections, Politics
