…and elimination of deductions.

Let’s start with:

-eliminating the mortgage deduction (A brilliant move during a housing slump)

-eliminating deductions for charitable donations

-eliminating deductions for health care (exempting unions of course. Is that fair? Obama has to pay back the unions that supported him though)

-cap and trade (not a tax per se but will have the same effect. Do you think businesses will pass the increase on to you?)

-VAT tax (A federal sales tax on all purchases)

-Letting the top tax rates go back up for individuals earning over 0,000( Bush tax cuts expire)

-And raising the corporate tax rate.

What else you got?
Melissa you have your head so far in the sand it’s amazing you can come up and use a computer

I am not going to cheer or condemn. You be the judge. This is an official list of the upcoming increases in taxes for various individuals and businesses in Pres. Obama’s budget. Pull them apart and give us your thoughts. Good or not good…and why?

President Obama’s budget proposes 9 billion in new taxes over the course of the next 10 years, starting fiscal year 2011, most of which are tax increases on individuals.

1) On people making more than 0,000.

8 billion – Bush tax cuts expire
9 billlion – eliminate itemized deduction
8 billion – capital gains tax hike

Total: 6 billion/10 years

2) Businesses:

billion – Reinstate Superfund taxes
billion – tax carried-interest as income
billion – codify "economic substance doctrine"
billion – repeal LIFO
0 billion – international enforcement, reform deferral, other tax reform
billion – information reporting for rental payments
.3 billion – excise tax on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas
.4 billion – repeal expensing of tangible drilling costs
million – repeal deduction for tertiary injectants
million – repeal passive loss exception for working interests in oil and natural gas properties
billion – repeal manufacturing tax deduction for oil and natural gas companies
billion – increase to 7 years geological and geophysical amortization period for independent producers
2 million – eliminate advanced earned income tax credit

Total: 3 billion/10 years

— Broaden the 1.45-percent Medicare tax on earned income to “passive income,” which could include money from capital gains, rental properties and businesses that do not require direct participation. This could raise 0 billion.

— Levy a five-percent surtax on individuals who earn more than 0,000 and couples that make million.

— Tax health benefits at a higher level than had been considered. Two scenarios are in play. Taxing plans worth more than ,300 for a family and ,300 for an individual could raise 0 billion. Increasing the cut-off to plans worth more than ,000 would bring billion.

— Capping the tax break on itemized deductions at 28 percent, as President Barack Obama had proposed, or freezing the top deduction rate at 35 percent when the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010. The first scenario would raise 8 billion, while the second would collect billion.

— Issue tax credit bonds to pay for the proposed Medicaid expansion, raising billion.

— Charge fees to pharmaceutical manufacturers, bringing in as much as billion, and insurance providers, raising billion.

– Raise taxes on sodas and sugary drinks. A 3-cent hike could pick up billion, and a 10-cent hike could make 0 billion. This one already appears out of favor: Many senators have specifically ruled out the sugar tax, and a Senate Democratic source said it was the one option that was clearly not gaining traction with committee members.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24752.html

— Broaden the 1.45-percent Medicare tax on earned income to “passive income,” which could include money from capital gains, rental properties and businesses that do not require direct participation. This could raise 0 billion.

— Levy a five-percent surtax on individuals who earn more than 0,000 and couples that make million.

— Tax health benefits at a higher level than had been considered. Two scenarios are in play. Taxing plans worth more than ,300 for a family and ,300 for an individual could raise 0 billion. Increasing the cut-off to plans worth more than ,000 would bring billion.

— Capping the tax break on itemized deductions at 28 percent, as President Barack Obama had proposed, or freezing the top deduction rate at 35 percent when the Bush tax cuts expire in 2010. The first scenario would raise 8 billion, while the second would collect billion.

— Issue tax credit bonds to pay for the proposed Medicaid expansion, raising billion.

— Charge fees to pharmaceutical manufacturers, bringing in as much as billion, and insurance providers, raising billion.

– Raise taxes on sodas and sugary drinks. A 3-cent hike could pick up billion, and a 10-cent hike could make 0 billion. This one already appears out of favor: Many senators have specifically ruled out the sugar tax, and a Senate Democratic source said it was the one option that was clearly not gaining traction with committee members.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24752.html

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) – Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney said on Saturday his 3.4 billion U.S. economic stimulus plan would rescue an economy on the "tipping point" of recession. His plan foresees 1.4 billion in stimulus to corporate America in measures that include permanently reducing the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent over two years and allowing businesses to depreciate the value of new equipment purchases faster.

McCain has voiced apprehension over proposals for temporary tax cuts and more spending as suggested by many Democrats and Republicans, saying they result in additional strains on resources. McCain has instead proposed cuts in corporate taxes from 35 percent to 25 percent, extension of Bush’s tax cuts, and elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax, which was enacted to prevent wealthy taxpayers from using many deductions to avoid federal income taxes.
so not only does it seem they favor big business but it is actually their beleive that it is the best way to adress our economic issues.

i now understand how that 0.00 a year that the bush tax cuts have saved me is really due to the added economic growth due to the billions in tax credits given to oil corporations, who have used those credits to help keep the price of food, fuel and transportation down…… due to their brilliant development and research programs and the republican led business revival these oil giants some how managed to see historic profit margins. thanks to those wonderful incentives and republican management of the economy we have seen millions of jobs created
(minimum wage service sector jobs, which don’t come with a pension or 401k or health insurance….)
to make up for the higher pay industrial jobs which have been lost.

i was wrong, i don’t understand how i missed how much the wonderful job done by our leadership in washington had done for us

Are they lazy? All they have to do is go to his website??

Barack Obama’s Plan
Restore Fiscal Discipline to Washington

* Reinstate PAYGO Rules: Obama believes that a critical step in restoring fiscal discipline is enforcing pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budgeting rules which require new spending commitments or tax changes to be paid for by cuts to other programs or new revenue.
* Reverse Bush Tax Cuts for the Wealthy: Obama will protect tax cuts for poor and middle class families, but he will reverse most of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest taxpayers.
* Cut Pork Barrel Spending: Obama introduced and passed bipartisan legislation that would require more disclosure and transparency for special-interest earmarks. Obama believes that spending that cannot withstand public scrutiny cannot be justified. Obama will slash earmarks to no greater than year 2001 levels and ensure all spending decisions are open to the public.
* Make Government Spending More Accountable and Efficient: Obama will ensure that federal contracts over ,000 are competitively bid. Obama will also increase the efficiency of government programs through better use of technology, stronger management that demands accountability and by leveraging the government’s high-volume purchasing power to get lower prices.
* End Wasteful Government Spending: Obama will stop funding wasteful, obsolete federal government programs that make no financial sense. Obama has called for an end to subsidies for oil and gas companies that are enjoying record profits, as well as the elimination of subsidies to the private student loan industry which has repeatedly used unethical business practices. Obama will also tackle wasteful spending in the Medicare program.

Make the Tax System More Fair and Efficient

* End Tax Haven Abuse: Building on his bipartisan work in the Senate, Obama will give the Treasury Department the tools it needs to stop the abuse of tax shelters and offshore tax havens and help close the 0 billion tax gap between taxes owed and taxes paid.
* Close Special Interest Corporate Loopholes: 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.

Barack Obama’s Record

* PAYGO: Obama voted in 2005, 2006, and 2007 to reinstate pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) federal budget rules.
* No-Bid Contracts: Obama has introduced and helped pass bipartisan legislation to limit the abuse of no-bid federal contracts.

I guess it just goes to show that people have closed minds when it comes to Senator Obama. I tend to think that most of them make a good deal of money and are pretty upset at the thought of losing ANY of it.

Yes President Obama is letting the Bush tax cuts for people making over 0,000 a year expire but President Obama’s stimulus bill had 2 billion in tax cuts.

(if President Obama has increased taxes please post which piece of legislation it was)

Individual Tax Cuts:

1. "Making Work Pay" Tax Credit (Sec. 1001, Page 195). In tax years 2009 and 2010, the Making Work Pay provision will provide a refundable tax credit of 6.2 percent of earned income up to 0 for individuals and up to 0 for married taxpayers filing joint returns.

2. Increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit (Sec. 1002, Page 198). Go to the stimulus bill for all the details, but it essentially expands this benefit for the working poor.

3. Increased Eligibility for the Refundable Portion of Child Credit (Sec. 1003, Page 199). In 2009 and 2010, families who don’t earn enough to pay income tax would be eligible to claim the ,000 child credit.

4. "American Opportunity" Education Tax Credit (Sec. 1004, Page 199). Increases the Hope Scholarship Credit to ,500.

5. Refundable First-time Home Buyer Credit. (Sec. 1006, Page 202). This extended and increased the first-time home buyer tax credit from ,500 to ,000.

6. Temporary Suspension of Taxation of Unemployment Benefits (Sec. 1007, Page 203). This exempts from taxable gross income the first ,400 of unemployment benefits.

7. Tax Credits for Energy-Efficient Improvements to Existing Homes (Sec. 1121, Page 208). This provides up to a ,500 tax credit for qualified energy efficiency improvements.

8. Sales Tax Deduction for Vehicle Purchases (Sec. 1008, Page 203). This allows people to write off state and local sales taxes related to the purchase of a new vehicle costing up to ,500.

9. Premium Credits for COBRA Continuation Coverage for Unemployed Workers (Sec. 6432, Page 348)

10. Economic Recovery Credits to Recipients of Social Security, SSI, Railroad Retirement and Veterans Disability Compensation Benefits (Sec. 2201, Page 336). This was a 0 payment for senior citizens, disabled veterans and disabled people living on Social Security benefits.

11. Computers as Qualified Education Expenses in 529 Education Plans (Sec. 1005, Page 202). This allows college students to write off the expense of computers and software, provided it’s for educational purpose and not for games.

12. Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicle Credit (Sec. 1141, Page 212). Allows purchasers of plug-in electric vehicles to write off up to ,000 of their purchase (depending on the power of the battery).

13. Tax Parity for Transit Benefits (sec. 1151, Page 219). This relates to an increased exclusion amount for commuter transit benefits and transit passes.

14. Health Coverage Tax Credit Expansion (Sec. 1899, Page 309).

Small Business Tax Cuts:

1. Extension of Enhanced Small Business Expensing (Sec. 1202, Page 221). This is a temporary increase in limitations on expensing some depreciable business assets.

2. 5-Year Carryback of Net Operating Losses for Small Businesses (Sec. 1211, Page 221).

3. Extension of Bonus Depreciation (Sec. 1201, Page 220). This extends by a year election to accelerate the AMT and Research Credits in lieu of bonus depreciation.

4. Exclusion of 75% of Small Business Capital Gains from Taxes (Sec. 1241, Page 228).

5. Temporary Small Business Estimated Tax Payment Relief (Sec. 1212, Page 222).

6. Temporary Reduction of S Corporation Built-In Gains Holding Period from 10 Years to 7 Years (Sec. 1251, Page 228).

Other Business Tax Cuts:

1. Advanced Energy Investment Credit (Sec. 1302, Page 231). This relates to properties designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as those that produce
energy from the sun, wind, geothermal deposits, fuel cells, microturbines, or an energy storage system for use with electric or hybrid-electric vehicles.

2. Tax Credits for Alternative Refueling Property (Sec. 1123, Page 211). This is a temporary increase for alternative fuel vehicle refueling businesses.

3. Work Opportunity Tax Credits for Hiring Unemployed Veterans and Disconnected Youth (Sec. 1221, Page 223). This is a tax credit to provide incentive to businesses to hire unemployed veterans and "disconnected youth." That latter term is defined, in part, as young adults "not readily employable by reason of lacking a sufficient number of basic skills."

4. Delayed Recognition of Certain Cancellation of Debt Income (Sec. 1231, Page 224).

5. Election to Accelerate Recognition of Historic AMT/R&D Credits (Sec. 1201, Page 220).
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to fact check me if you want to

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1enr.txt.pdf

It makes the tax code a little simpler for individuals by repealing the AMT after 2007 and expanding the standard deduction, and a bit simpler for businesses, who will trade
unnecessary tax breaks for a lower corporate tax rate. The bill’s corporate loopholeclosing measures would enhance the economy overall because fewer business decisions would be made for tax reasons (to exploit loopholes) rather than sound
economic reasons. It makes the tax code fairer by providing a larger standard deduction and tax credits low-income working people and by scaling back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.
Finally, the bill stops the dangerous pattern of the Bush administration of cutting taxes more and more and putting the cost on the national credit card. Instead, the bill pays
for the tax cuts it provides to the vast majority of Americans in a responsible way.

http://www.ctj.org/pdf/rangelbill.pdf

Thoughts?

Beacuse these two things ARE NOT the same.

The top 10 percent of income earners in this country pay 71 percent of federal income taxes, though they earn just 39 percent of the nation’s pretax income.

Thirty years of Republican tax policy have now completely eliminated federal income taxes on the poor and lower middle-income Americans, and almost eliminated them on middle America.

The latest data from the Congressional Budget Office and the Internal Revenue Service show that the lowest 40 percent of income earners as a group actually receive net payments from the federal income tax system. (They get 3.8 percent of total federal income tax revenues instead of paying any income taxes.) The middle 20 percent of income earners pay 4.4 percent of federal income taxes. Thus the bottom 60 percent of income earners together, on net, pay less than 1 percent of all federal income taxes.

Obama would end the Bush tax cuts and allow the top two tax rates to return to 36 and 39.6 percent. He also would allow personal exemptions and deductions to be phased out for those with income over 0,000. He would end the Social Security payroll tax cap for those over 0,000 in earnings. (The cap is currently set at 2,000.) These individuals will then face a tax rate of 15.65 percent from payroll taxes and the top income tax rate of 39.6 percent for a combined top rate of over 56 percent on each additional dollar earned.
And this doesn’t include state and local taxes!

What Obama is calling tax cuts for the middle class is really a slew of refundable federal income tax credits that would primarily go to those who are paying little or no federal income taxes now. Such credits would primarily not reduce tax liability, but instead be checks from the federal government for child care, education, housing, retirement, health care, even outright giveaways. These are not tax cuts. They are new federal spending programs hidden in the tax code. Who is going to pay for it? The Rich??

Not likely! At a 56% tax rate, I’m moving my money offshore!

Many individuals will attempt to transfer their compensation from wages to capital gains, since capital gains would only be taxed at 25 percent, or less than half of the top rate on wages. This would put a great deal of pressure on a company to do anything it could to make its stock quickly increase in value. Other individuals would try to incorporate so they could pay business taxes instead of having to pay taxes on their wages. Again, these resources would be diverted away from more productive uses and slow the economy.

High tax rates also encourage capital and income flight to lower-taxed areas. There is ample evidence in the United States of individuals and businesses moving to states such as Florida or Delaware to take advantage of their tax-friendly laws. A higher federal tax rate would encourage individuals to move assets abroad to take advantage of lower tax rates in countries such as Canada, France, and Great Britain.

I’ve read Obama’s tax plan on his site. There are NO TAX CUTS!! NO TAX RATES ARE LOWERED!! These are TAX CREDITS that someone has to pay for. We Conservatives call this "redistribution of wealth."