OBAMA VERSUS MCCAIN: ARGUMENTS FOR WHO IS BETTER FOR MOST AMERICANS

He advocates we increase taxes on those best able to create jobs, thereby limiting their job creation capability.

For example, how does your argument address the fact that the market is, on Monday morning, up 500 points?

Baloney. Obama also says he will cut taxes for 95% of Americans. Does he honestly think that small businesses earning more than $250k are not the businesses creating most of the jobs?

cycloptichorn wrote:

For example, how does your argument address the fact that the market is, on Monday morning, up 500 points?

At this moment, it's up 600 points. What were today's pollng results? .............

Oh yes, today's polls have not yet been conducted.

Reagan cut the maximum income tax from Carter's 70% to 28%. Then he increased it to 30%. Then Bush Sr. increased it to 35%. Then Clinton increased it to 39.6%. Clinton's tax increase still resulted in a net reduction of of Carter's 70% tax rate. Clinton inherited his low unemployment rate figures from the net tax rate reduction of Reagan etc, until the last year of his term. Then the unemployment began to increase right into Bush Jr.'s term. Clinton's unemployment increase was reversed by Bush Jr.'s tax decrease.

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.cpseea1.txt

A-1. [EXCERPT] Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years and over, 1970 to date

Thousands Unemployed, Percent unemployed
1970........................ 4,093, 4.9
1971......................... 5,016, 5.9
1972 (1).................... 4,882, 5.6
1973 (1).................... 4,365, 4.9
1974........................ 5,156, 5.6
1975........................ 7,929, 8.5
1976........................ 7,406, 7.7
1977........................ 6,991, 7.1
1978 (1).................... 6,202, 6.1
1979.......................... 6,137, 5.8

1980........................ 7,637, 7.1
1981........................ 8,273, 7.6
1982........................ 10,678, 9.7
1983........................ 10,717, 9.6
1984........................ 8,539, 7.5
1985........................ 8,312, 7.2
1986 (1).................... 8,237, 7.0
1987........................ 7,425, 6.2
1988........................ 6,701, 5.5
1989........................ 6,528, 5.3

1990 (1).................... 7,047, 5.6
1991.......................... 8,628, 6.8
1992........................ 9,613, 7.5
1993........................ 8,940, 6.9
1994 (1).................... 7,996, 6.1
1995........................ 7,404, 5.6
1996........................ 7,236, 5.4
1997 (1).................... 6,739, 4.9
1998 (1).................... 6,210, 4.5
1999 (1).................... 5,880, 4.2

2000 (1).................... 5,692, 4.0
2001........................ 6,801, 4.7
2002........................ 8,378, 5.8
2003 (1).................... 8,774, 6.0
2004 (1).................... 8,149, 5.5
2005 (1).................... 7,591, 5.1
2006 (1).................... 7,001, 4.6
2007 (1).................... 7,078 ,4.6



2007:
August..................... 7,133, 4.7
September.................. 7,246, 4.7
October.................... 7,291, 4.8
November................... 7,181, 4.7
December................... 7,655, 5.0

2008:
January (3)................ 7,576, 4.9
February................... 7,381, 4.8
March...................... 7,815, 5.1
April...................... 7,626, 5.0
May........................ 8,487, 5.5
June....................... 8,499, 5.5
July....................... 8,784, 5.7
August..................... 9,376, 6.1

You claim this source supplied unrealistic statistics:

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.cpseea1.txt

Incredible! Unbelievable! Weird!

Clinton's unemployment increase was reversed by Bush Jr.'s tax decrease.

1992........................ 9,613, 7.5
1993........................ 8,940, 6.9
1994 (1).................... 7,996, 6.1
1995........................ 7,404, 5.6
1996........................ 7,236, 5.4
1997 (1).................... 6,739, 4.9
1998 (1).................... 6,210, 4.5
1999 (1).................... 5,880, 4.2

2000 (1).................... 5,692, 4.0

Two problems with your argument Fox.

1. less than 5 million small business make $250K or more for their owners.
2. You fail to take into account the tax credits for small business that Obama has proposed. The health tax credit alone will more than make up any increase in income taxes for most small businesses as long as they insure their employees.

The Tax Policy Center and the Barack Obama campaign used some sleight of hand this week in Politico. To quote Eric Tolder of the TPC, “Most small-business people, like most everyone else, are not really high-income.” While this is true, it completely and totally misses the point.

Let’s start with the definition of a “small business.” Most will tell you that small-business income constitutes income derived from sole proprietorships, partnerships and Subchapter S corporations.

The conservative argument (and that of the John McCain campaign) is that Obama’s stated plan to raise taxes on households making $250,000 or more in income is a tax increase on small business. The simple answer to this dilemma can be found in the IRS Statistics of Income Bulletin (Table 1.4, for those who are interested).

So what do the data say?

In 2006 (the latest year available), $706 billion of such income was reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Of this, about half was reported by households in the top marginal income tax rate. Interestingly, two-thirds of this income was reported by households making $250,000 per year or more " the very same households that Obama wants to increase taxes on.

The Obama campaign maintains that the number of small-business owners is what’s important. Economists know what matters is the tax rate that’s applied to the bulk of small-business income. Make no mistake about it: Obama’s plan to raise taxes on households making more than $250,000 will raise taxes on most small-business profits in America.

What type of tax rate are we talking about? Currently, S corporations face a top tax rate of 35 percent, while sole proprietors and general partners face a tax rate of 37.9 percent (since they’re responsible for paying both income tax and the Medicare component of the payroll tax).

Under Obama’s plan to let the scheduled 2011 tax rate hikes occur, and his plan to raise the self-employment tax on those making more than $250,000, the S corporation rate would rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. The sole proprietor and partner rate would rise from 37.9 percent all the way up to a staggering 50.3 percent. Many Democrats in Congress have proposed making all small businesses (including S corporations) pay this 50-plus percent rate. A small business tax rate that high would be the highest marginal rate faced by them in nearly a quarter-century.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11670.html

Employer Contribution to Health Care Costs: Employers that do not “offer or make a meaningful contribution” to provide of help cover the cost of health care benefits for their employees will not get off for free.

Employers that do not provide or substantially contribute to their employee’s health care, will be required to pay a percentage of their payroll to the government as a contribution to the national plan. This would not be an optional contribution and no guidelines have yet been offered as to what that payroll percentage contribution would be.


Small Business Exemption: Obama’s plan exempts small businesses from the requirement to provide health care benefits or contribute to the costs of the national plan.

There have been no guidelines presented yet as to what constitutes a “small business.” However, if the guidelines applied by the Small Business Administration were used, the definition of “small business” is still vague (and has been redefined many times over the past ten years):


“The Small Business Act states that a small business concern is "one that is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation." The law also states that in determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary from industry to industry to reflect industry differences accurately. SBA's Small Business Size Regulations implement the Small Business Act's mandate to SBA. SBA has also established a table of size standards, matched to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries.”

Small Business Health Tax Credit: Small business owners would receive a new “Small Business Health Tax Credit” in order to help reduce the costs incurred by small businesses who offer health care benefits. This incentive would be in the form of a refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees.
http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/womenspolitics/a/obama-employers.htm