Obama's Tax Fairness Plan (GD:P *can* talk about the issues! Yes, we can!)

Not the Only One

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Thu Mar-13-08 10:28 AM
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Obama's Tax Fairness Plan (GD:P *can* talk about the issues! Yes, we can!)

None of this is new news, but I thought it would be nice to have something positive posted here recently, sticking to the issues that Americans care about and not going on and on about racism and sexism and such. If any Obama supporters were wanting to be able to give undecideds info about Obama's tax policy, I hope this is helpful. This is also helpful to rebut nonsensical criticisms that Obama is just an empty suit orator. Feel free to pass along via email!

"�{T}o get through these uncertain times, we have to recognize that we all have a stake in one another�s success. When folks are hurting out there on Main Street, that�s not good for Wall Street. When the changes in our economy are leaving too many people behind, the competitiveness of our country risks falling behind. When that dream of opportunity is denied to too many Americans, then ultimately that pain has a way of trickling up." -- Barack Obama, 9/18/07

"I'm in this race to take those tax breaks away from companies that are moving jobs overseas and put them in the pockets of hard working Americans who deserve it, and I�m the only candidate in this race to introduce a middle-class tax cut that will give 95% of working Americans a break.... We don�t need any more tax breaks for the wealthiest corporations who didn�t need them and didn�t ask for them - it's time to give a break to working folks so that we put the American Dream within the reach of every American once more." -- Barack Obama, 11/10/07

Economists comment on Barack Obama's economic plan for America...

"This plan directs its attention to the vast majority of taxpayers, who have seen little benefit from the current administration's tax policy. Through its income tax credit for payroll taxes and its simplification measures, it should make work more rewarding and paying taxes less difficult." --Alan Auerbach, Director, Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finances; Robert D. Burch Professor of Economics and Law, University of California-Berkeley; Member, Panel of Economic Advisors, U.S. Congressional Budget Office (1998-2002)

"Barack Obama's plan would restore some much needed fairness in our tax system for the middle class by making work pay, simplifying our tax code, making housing more affordable, and ensuring that millions of seniors never have to pay income taxes. Taken together, millions and millions of families will fill out fewer forms and have more in their pockets." --Michael Blumenthal, Former Secretary of the Treasury (1977-1979)

"For the last several years, tax policy makers have seemed oblivious to growing income inequality and the economic challenges that face working middle-income Americans trying to educate their children, buy their first homes and save for their retirement. In contrast, Senator Obama's Tax Fairness Plan recognizes that a progressive tax system is not characterized just by progressive tax rates, but also by certain tax credits designed, for example, to reward work or to provide a tax benefit to all homeowners -- not just to those taxpayers who itemize. He provides real simplification by taking some senior citizens off the rolls entirely and by providing millions of Americans pre-prepared returns, much like the Ready Return program used in California. Senator Obama also recognizes that a system riddled with tax subsidies is not perceived as fair because people rightly worry that the rich or more sophisticated are taking advantage of benefits they cannot enjoy. Accordingly, he advocates eliminating many of these special tax breaks, thereby also eliminating the economic distortions that they create." --Elizabeth Garrett, Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics, Political Science and Policy, Planning and Development, University of Southern California; Former Member of President Bush's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform (2005)

"Senator Obama's tax fairness plan benefits workers, seniors and middle class homeowners and would eliminate loopholes and schemes by which the super rich and many companies avoid taxes. He would help restore an economically sound progressive tax system, reversing the regressive nature of six years of tax changes. Senator Obama recognizes that globalization presents many benefits and new opportunities -- including unfortunately, opportunities to evade legally due taxes. Most of us whose taxes are paid through withholding can't take advantage of tax havens and other off shore tax avoidance gimmicks. Those individuals and companies that do cause the rest of us to pay higher taxes while evading hundreds of billions of their tax obligations. One of the first steps taken by the Bush Treasury, even before cutting rich folks taxes, was to eliminate U.S. support for an international challenge to tax havens." --Joseph H. Guttentag, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs, Department of Treasury, Clinton Administration

"Senator Obama's tax fairness plan demonstrates his commitment to shared prosperity." --Jeffrey Liebman, Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University; Former Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, White House National Economic Council (1998-1999)

"Senator Obama's plan will bring about a long overdue reversal of the direction of our nation's tax policies. Instead of concentrating the benefits of tax reductions among the very affluent, his plan will reduce growing income disparities and help millions of hard-working taxpayers with middle-class tax relief. And instead of undermining international efforts to combat tax evasion through offshore tax havens, the Obama plan will lead the way in pressuring tax haven countries to share the information needed to make tax evaders pay their American taxes." --Dan Tarullo, Professor of Law, Georgetown University; Former Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs (1993-1996); Former Assistant to the President for International Economic Policy (1997-1998)

Barack Obama's five-part plan will provide a tax cut to over 150 million workers and their families. Obama will:

(1) Create a new �Making Work Pay� tax credit of up to $1,000 for America�s working families
(2) Create a new universal mortgage interest credit that will benefit low and middle-income homeowners
(3) Honor America�s seniors by eliminating income taxes for those making less than $50,000 per year
(4) Simplify tax filings so millions of Americans can do their taxes in less than 5 minutes
(5) Eliminate special interest loopholes and tax breaks and crack down on international tax havens

(1) TAX CUT FOR AMERICA�S WORKING FAMILIES

Barack Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they deserve. Obama will create a new "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. This refundable income tax credit will provide direct relief to American families who face the regressive payroll tax system. It will offset the payroll tax on the first $8,100 of their earnings while still preserving the important principle of a dedicated revenue source for Social Security. The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans. The tax credit will also provide relief to self-employed small business owners who struggle to pay both the employee and employer portion of the payroll tax. The "Making Work Pay" tax credit offsets some of this self-employment tax as well.

Obama has previously proposed rewarding work by increasing the number of working parents eligible for Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) benefits, increasing the benefit available to parents who support their children through child support payments, increasing the benefit for families with three or more children and reducing the EITC marriage penalty which hurts low-income families.

(2) CREATE A UNIVERSAL MORTGAGE CREDIT

Barack Obama will ensure that anyone with a mortgage, not just the well-off, can take advantage of this tax incentive for homeownership by creating a universal mortgage credit. This 10 percent credit will benefit an additional 10 million homeowners, the majority of whom earn less than $50,000 per year. Non-itemizers will be eligible for this refundable credit, which will provide the average recipient with approximately $500 per year in tax savings. This tax credit will also help homeowners deal with the uncertain state of the housing market today.

(3) ELIMINATE INCOME TAXES FOR SENIORS MAKING LESS THAN $50,000

Barack Obama will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This will provide immediate relief to 22 million American seniors who will not need to file an income tax return, and will eliminate any income tax for nearly seven million seniors at a savings of roughly $1,400 each year. For many seniors, this will eliminate the need to hire a tax preparer, resulting in even larger savings.

(4) ENABLE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS TO COMPLETE TAX RETURNS IN 5 MINUTES

Barack Obama will dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than 5 minutes. Currently, the IRS receives Americans� financial information directly from employers and banks. Obama will ensure that the IRS uses this information to give taxpayers the option of a pre-filled tax forms to verify, sign and return to the IRS or online.

(5) LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD FOR AMERICAN BUSINESSES

Barack Obama will level the playing field for all businesses by eliminating special interest loopholes and deductions, such as those for the oil and gas industry, as well as by limiting the ability of large multi-national corporations to use tax havens to hide income overseas. He will firmly institutionalize the economic substance doctrine so we can stop companies from creating abusive tax shelters.

Obama will also crack down on the offshore tax havens engaged in shielding tax evaders from justice by refusing to share tax information with us the way all other nations do. This costs us tens of billions of dollars every year. Obama will create an International Tax Evasion Watch List to monitor these countries and will use economic pressure to make them comply. And Obama will penalize any company that reports income from tax havens on the list.

Obama will also eliminate the capital gains taxation of start-up businesses to encourage innovation and job creation. These provisions, combined with reducing the self-employment tax for small business measures, will ensure that the corporate tax code is not only fair, but also promotes continued economic growth and innovation.