Election News and Tax Myths

Written by Tony

Wednesday, 22 October 2008

Here's some of the latest Vote 2008 news. Remember to go vote on November 4th (or before, but it's better to go on election day):

Obama Buys the Election, Most Media Are Silent (NewsMax.com)

Barack Obama promised he would take public financing for his presidential campaign if John McCain did.
McCain did and Obama didn’t.

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The Republican lawmaker from South Carolina taunted: “Senator Barack Obama has brought change, all right. He’s the first person since Watergate to reject public financing and raise $600 million. You can’t turn on your TV without some ad -- so much of it you don’t know where it’s coming from. That’s the kind of change that’s going to ruin America.”

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According to Fox, Obama -- who famously reversed course and turned down public financing without conferring with McCain as he promised -- outspent the Republican 4 to 1 on television ads in key swing states, and 117 to 1 in online advertising.
Obama Charging Reporters for Election Night (Newsmax.com)
Obama Turns Blind Eye to Credit Card Donation Fraud (Newsmax.com)

What do Bart Simpson, Family Guy, Daffy Duck, King Kong, O.J. Simpson and Raela Odinga have in common?
All are celebrities; and with the exception of Odinga and O.J. Simpson, they also are fictional characters. And yet, all of them gave money earlier this month to the campaign of Barack Obama, without any apparent effort by the campaign to screen them out as suspect donors.
McCain Camp Seeks More ‘Hardworking Joes' (Newsmax.com)

The John McCain campaign wants everybody to jump on the “Joe the Plumber” bandwagon by announcing a contest that will select and air the video submitted by a citizen that best shows why he or she typifies the hardworking “Joe.”
“We want to hear from you and share your story with the American public,” says the challenge featured on JohnMcCain.com. “It’s simple ... make an ad telling us why you are ‘Joe the Plumber’ in 30 seconds and your video could end up on the air as a TV ad.”
The Truth About Tax Rates and The Politics of Class Warfare (Heritage.org - March 5, 2001)

Myth: The rich do not pay their fair share of taxes and therefore should not get a significant share of a tax cut.
Reality: According to data from the Internal Revenue Service, 1 the top 1 percent of income earners pay nearly 35 percent of the income tax burden; the top 10 percent pay 65 percent; and the top 25 percent pay nearly 83 percent. The bottom 50 percent of income earners, on the other hand, pay barely 4 percent of income taxes. By definition, then, it is impossible to cut taxes without the so-called rich receiving a share of the benefits.

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Myth: Lower tax rates will mean that the rich pay less.

Reality: This outcome depends on how much tax rates are reduced. History indicates that the revenue-maximizing rate is less than 30 percent. In other words, when marginal rates are higher than 30 percent, the rich probably will pay more taxes if rates are lowered. The reason? There is less incentive to hide, shelter, or underreport income.

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Myth: Lower tax rates mean the rich will get richer while the poor get poorer.

Reality: President Kennedy was right: A rising tide lifts all boats. Census Bureau data show that earnings for all income classes tend to rise and fall in unison. In other words, economic policy either generates positive results, in which case all income classes benefit, or causes stagnation and decline, in which case all groups suffer.