Obama’s Tax Plan Based on ‘Neighborliness’

Obama’s Tax Plan Based on ‘Neighborliness’

CNSNews.com

Tuesday, September 09, 2008
By Susan Jones, Senior Editor




Sen. Barack Obama speaks at a rally in Dublin, Ohio on Aug. 30, 2008. (AP File Photo/Alex Brandon)(CNSNews.com) - We can afford to pay higher taxes. They can’t. That’s the gist of Sen. Barack Obama’s tax plan, which he discussed with Fox New Channel’s Bill O’Reilly in an interview that aired Monday night.

Obama has campaigned on a promise to reverse the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, while protecting tax cuts for poor and middle class families. He favors a return to the 39 percent income tax bracket for the highest earners -- including himself and O’Reilly, he said.

“You can afford that. That’s point number one,” Obama told O’Reilly. In exchange, Obama said he would cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans.

“If I am sitting pretty, and you’ve got a waitress who is making minimum wage plus tips, and I can afford it and she can’t -- what’s the big deal for me to say, ‘I’m going to pay a little bit more.’ That is neighborliness,” Obama said.

‘Robin Hood Obama’

“You’re a big ‘tax the rich’ guy,” O’Reilly told the Democratic presidential candidate.

O’Reilly called the senator “Robin Hood Obama,” and reminded him that taking money away from high-earners and giving it to low earners is income redistribution. “It’s a socialist tenet,” O’Reilly said.

Even President Teddy Roosevelt supported a progressive income tax, Obama responded. (“Not at the level you do,” O’Reilly retorted.)

“I don’t like paying taxes. What, you think I like writing a check?” Obama said.

“What I believe is, is that there are certain things we have to do. We’ve got to help people who are having tough times affording college, so they can benefit like we benefited from this great country. People who are having a tough time -- they don’t have health care; people who are trying to figure out how they are going to pay the bills…”

Obama also mentioned the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. “At a certain point, we have to pay for it,” he said.

In his interview with O’Reilly, Obama did not say where he would cap payroll taxes. (His Web site says he would ask people earning over $250,000 to contribute “a bit more” -- 2 to 4 percent more, he says -- to Social Security to keep it sound.)

Obama told O’Reilly he does not plan to raise corporate taxes. And he agreed that a “prohibitive” capital gains tax rate would inhibit investment. He mentioned raising the capital gains tax rate to 20 percent.

According to his campaign Web site, “Obama will create a new ‘Making Work Pay’ tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The ‘Making Work Pay’ tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.”

He also promises to eliminate income taxes for seniors making less than $50,000. He is pushing a $4,000 annual tuition tax credit for college students. And he says he will “dramatically simplify” tax filings so that millions of middle class Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than five minutes.







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RightStuff at 02:22 PM - September 09, 2008
Barack Obama is an out-and-out Marxist. My money represents my liberty, and whenever anyone messes with my money, they are messing with my liberty. In addition to Obama's ideology, he is a puppet of those who would want to completely command and control every aspect of our lives. This will hopefully be revealed clearly as the next few weeks of this campaign period unfolds.

SailormanCGA72 at 02:16 PM - September 09, 2008
The idea of neighborliness would necessarily assume a voluntary transfer of goods, services, money, etc. from one neighbor to another. I doubt very seriously if Mr. Obama and the IRS would agree to voluntary participation in his "neighborly" redistribution of wealth. Sounds much more like strongarm socialism.

Ender Wiggin at 01:59 PM - September 09, 2008
I encourage everyone to watch the actual interview with O'Reilly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crvINqq5izM When Ms. Jones say "we can afford higher taxes, they can't" you should understand who "we" are. If you look at a statistical breakdown of Obama's and McCain's tax plans Obama cuts your taxes unless you earn more than $603,000 annually. So don't include "me" in that "we." I do think it's important to ask Michael Moore's question: Are we going to live in a "me" society or a "we" society. I think helping make sure kids can go to college is a pretty darned good thing. It will make our country better and benefit everyone in ways we can only begin to imagine. Providing health care for all will reduce our own insurance costs because we already pay for poor people's hospital visits through our taxes. Preventative care is cheaper than emergency care. It's much cheaper than the Iraq debacle, and we seem to find plenty of money for that.

kbjb028 at 01:49 PM - September 09, 2008
And now Obama wants the government to regulate how I behave towards my neighbors. His campaign slogan should be "Hi, I'm from the government and I am here to help you". That's always been a line that makes me shudder.

Red46 at 01:37 PM - September 09, 2008
When will someone mention that taking care of the waitress is her, her family or her community's concern. If I give her a dollar, she'll have a dollar. If I give a reputable charity a dollar for her, she'll get 75-95 cents of that dollar. If I give the government a dollar to give to her, she'll get what is now...38 cents? The only reason to establish these programs is to swell a voting base for socialists.