Obama’s 95 Percent Tax Cut? 100 Percent Not True

by Ron Christie - 10/22/08 8:51 AM ET

Facts have a pesky way of serving as a fly in the ointment to a perfect story or solution.

To wit: I continue to watch the Democratic candidate for president continue to say that he will provide a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans. Let me repeat: He will provide a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans if his plan is enacted.

This sounds great, but nearly 40 percent of Americans do not pay income tax at all. Providing a tax cut to those who don’t pay federal income taxes sounds like wealth re-distribution to me — from those who have it to those who don’t. The Obama camp immediately retorts that people who don’t pay federal income tax do, in fact, pay payroll taxes — they should get a form of tax relief to alleviate this burden.

Fine, but the FICA taxes we pay go to fund the Social Security Trust Fund. Does Obama truly propose to provide checks to nearly 40 percent of Americans who pay no federal income tax while also giving them a rebate on the payroll taxes that ostensibly will fund Social Security for current (not future) retirees? If so, where will the additional revenue to support these money giveaways come from?

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) shed a bit of light on this topic earlier this week when he said that taxes must be raised on the richest Americans and that deficit spending will result in the short term. So there you have it: Obama will provide a cash rebate to those who do not pay federal income tax, funded by those who do pay federal income tax.

To make up the difference in lost revenue, Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, wants to increase taxes on those who pay a majority of federal income tax while also raising the size of the deficit to fuel additional government spending.

These are the sad facts that many in the media seem uninterested in reporting or discussing. The American electorate best wake up to this reality or get ready to tighten their belts, as the taxman cometh shortly to their door, asking for more of their hard-earned money.