Obama Vs. McCain on Taxes

A great post over at The New York Times Freakonomics Blog details the ramifications of each candidate's tax plans. Here's how the numbers break down in terms of household income:

If you earn over $2.87 million a year:

McCain wants to cut your taxes by 4.4%
Obama wants to raise your taxes by 11.5%

If you earn between $603,403 and $2.87 million:

McCain wants to cut your taxes by 3.4%
Obama wants to raise your taxes by 8.4%

If you earn between $226,982 and $603,402:

McCain wants to cut your taxes by 3.1%
Obama wants to keep your taxes exactly the same.

If you earn between $111,646 and $160,972:

McCain wants to cut your taxes by 3%
Obama wants to cut your taxes by 1.9%

If you earn between $66,335 and $111,645:

McCain wants to cut your taxes by 1.4%
Obama wants to cut your taxes by 1.8%

If you earn between $37,596 and $66,354:

McCain wants to cut your taxes by 0.7%
Obama wants to cut your taxes by 2.4%

If you earn between $18,982 and $37,595:

McCain wants to cut your taxes by 0.5%
Obama wants to cut your taxes by 3.6%

If you earn less than $18,981 (God bless you):

McCain wants to cut your taxes by 0.2%
Obama wants to cut your taxes by 5.5%

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So, we can see here that McCain's plan heavily favors the rich, and gives less back, in terms of percentage of income, to the poor. Obama's plan hits the very rich, freezes taxes for families making as much as $603,402, and generally gives back a greater percentage based on descending income.

While it is true that McCain's plan gives tax breaks to every income bracket, Obama's is actually weighted so that it targets more Americans with bigger tax breaks. Why? Because 60% of American households earn less than $66,354, and that's where Obama concentrates his highest percentage of tax relief.

McCain's biggest break, a 4.4% drop in terms of percentage of income, is given to the top 1% of Americans.

Perhaps this is why Alan Greenspan said yesterday that McCain's tax plan is a disaster.


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