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Cynthia Tucker

Little-known fact: Obama has CUT taxes

3:23 pm January 25, 2010, by ctucker

If you’re going to blame the president for your economic misery, then you ought to at least have your facts right. This morning, RealClearPolitics posted a piece from a self-described independent, Jill Dorson, who says she regrets her vote for Barack Obama.

Some of her complaints seem logical. But one of the complaints is factually inaccurate: she says her taxes have gone up. In fact, Obama pushed through a massive tax cut in the stimulus bill.

All that changed when the Obama campaign became the Obama administration. I was a small business owner during 2008 election and my business ultimately failed under the weight of a horrendous economy. I am not ashamed. I worked hard. But I believed that Obama would try to level the playing field between big business and small, between thieves and honest business people, between greed and moderation. Instead, he bailed out the most wicked and left the rest of us fail.

I watched with horror as Obama followed Bush’s lead in bailing out banks, auto makers, insurance companies, all of those companies deemed “too big to fail.” What does that mean? My small company got thrown under the bus and my savings were ravaged – perhaps Wall Street is using them for bonuses this year.

Not to mention President Obama is recklessly spending our country’s future into oblivion.

It was clear after just 90 days what a mistake I’d made. My taxes have gone up and my quality of life has gone down. Hope has given way to disgust and I see now that change is simply a euphemism for “big government.”

Here’s the thing: The stimulus package, for which Obama is being bashed, contained the biggest one-year tax cut in U.S. history. That’s right. The biggest one-year tax cut in U.S. history was pushed through by a Democrat.
Over at Time, pundit Joe Klein vents his frustration over the popular misunderstanding of the stimulus bill.
Maybe Ms. Dorson’s state or local taxes have gone up. But her federal taxes have not.

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67 comments Add your comment

Independent

January 26th, 2010
7:21 am

Cynthia, her state and local taxes may have gone up due to the actions of the Obama Administration. The Feds have a myriad of mandates and items like Medicaid, if they cut the funding then the states pick up the slack.

Barnacle Bill Bavasi

January 26th, 2010
7:22 am

My paycheck contains $9 less following Jan. 1. What up with that? Oh yeah, Bush tax cuts lapsing. I make $36K. My wife about $5K. Nine dollars matters.

Barnacle Bill Bavasi

January 26th, 2010
7:23 am

There’s a used car lot in Dalton named Terd Ferguson.

Mel

January 26th, 2010
7:34 am

An adminstartion takes over the worst economy conditions in 55 years, Im not even that old. You recieve a tax break as part of a stimulus and complain. Going forward taxes have to increase, how do you people think we pay for things and how are we to get out of this mess! Raise my taxes now!
I know people that are receiving unemployment, not looking for work, spending their unemployment on vacations, new cars, dinners out, like it was a pension check. They are older and do not plan on going back into the work force so they are just collecting and sitting back. What integrity?

Bob

January 26th, 2010
8:43 am

“People who do not earn enough money to owe income taxes are eligible for the credit, an attempt to offset the payroll taxes they pay”.
More welfare, little in tax cuts.

quod erat demonstrandum

January 26th, 2010
8:51 am

Mel,

While annuities may seem like a good deal, think about this -

Your annuity pays you $1300 a month, inflation goes to 10%, your annuity will not readjust for inflation. Your annuity is tied to the government’s debt. Inflation will hurt you, hyperinflation will leave you a beggar at the government’s door.

But on the other hand we are all so stupid we need Congress to think for us.

Without a choice, the new worker is screwed.

Now, take for instance a diverse portfolio of monthly paying dividend stocks, bond and mutuals, your dividends are inflation adjusted – you still get the same value(a percentage of net profits), but in smaller dollars.

George

January 26th, 2010
10:38 am

To tough guys First Sergeant and Mel- 48% of Americans don’t pay tax. Institutions are not breathing, living things. The “evil” oil companies and utilities pay a large part of corporate taxes. Guess what, those taxes are shoved down to the end users which are interestingly enough- people. Ponder this for a second, why is it effective for the gov’t to print money to then tax to then redistribute. Why hide behind the hyprocrisy. The far right and left have so much in common. The far left is squirming- not because of the far left but because of that wonderful, color blind, I like my fellow “man”, middle American is getting a little more active.

Mel

January 26th, 2010
11:40 am

It’s true George, middle America is getting more active!! I wait for the day that the far right and the far left are gone! So many people agree, that’s why democrats and even republicans are becoming registered independents.

Obama sat down with Diane Sawyer: Go for it, Obama! This man has the courage and wants change! So does America!

President Obama, buffeted by criticism of his massive health care reform bill and election setbacks, said today he remained determined to tackle health care and other big problems despite the political dangers to his presidency.

“I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president,” he told ABC’s “World News” anchor Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview today.

“I will not slow down in terms of going after the big problems that this country faces,” he said. “The easiest thing for me to do, Diane, would be to go small bore, avoid controversy, just make sure that everybody’s comfortable and we only propose things that don’t threaten any special interests in Washington. If you do that, then you can get a boost in the poll numbers.”

Mel

January 26th, 2010
3:15 pm

Quod

Annuities can be a good vehicle, but you indicate that people will have no choice. Why? Promote and encourage does not mean force. And do you really think the average person has a diverse portfolio? Many are not prepared for retirement can use the help. Negative spin on things…..is that all republican can do these days. Just like the “party of no”, we have the “people of no”.

Chris Sanchez

January 28th, 2010
6:52 am

A taxpayer voting for a Democrat is like a chicken voting for Col. Sanders…only about nine months until the mid term elections! Some folks are going to be surprised at just how angry the electorate is this cycle.

IMHO both Dems and GOP better look out. It’s not just left and right, its incumbents. We’re tired of being lied to by you!

Check the facts

January 28th, 2010
4:31 pm

Here is a website from a newspaper that checks the actual facts on things.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jan/28/barack-obama/tax-cut-95-percent-stimulus-made-it-so/

This is so helpful, I wish the AJC could do that.

Anyway, it appears Cynthia is correct, there was an actual cut to 2009 payroll taxes for ~94-95% of people paying payroll taxes of about $400 for a single and $800 for a couple. Some people’s withholding was adjusted to reflect that so they would have more in their takehome. Whoever said above they would have to give back the extra they received from the adjusted withholding with their 2009 tax return is incorrect. It was an really and truly actually existing cut to people’s payroll taxes who earn less than $200,000 for singles and $250,000 for couples. Believe it or not, I could honestly not care less, but them’s the facts as reported by actual reporters who check actual facts, including cited references (what an anomaly in reporting!) to an analysis by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center.

If we want the truth, let’s try doing the actual math on our actual tax returns rather than just handing it off to joe tax guy and see for ourselves. Did you pay/owe less total payroll taxes this year than last year if you earned the same amount in pay? Remember payroll taxes are different than 1099 income or income from property or investments, it has to be earned by working for an employer as an employee, not as a contractor. Let’s all report back April 15 and see. How ’bout it?

Or is it just easier to all talk out of our rear ends without attempting to check anything at all, ever, in service of our often incorrect opinions and arguments?

busox

January 30th, 2010
3:59 pm

Obama changed the withholding tables. He did not change the tax code. He smoke and mirrors plan is based on you not knowing how much you make, only knowing how much is in your paycheck. When you file your taxes this year and your refund check is lower than you expected, you can thank Obama and the democrats, unless of course, you think your tax refund is free money from the government. That’s what Obama is betting you think… His tax cut to 95% of working Americans? It was nothing more than a giveaway to people who don’t pay taxes. Just wait and see.

ProgressivesareEvil

February 4th, 2010
9:48 pm

Check the facts, your article clearly states they reduced the withholding, not the tax rate so he didn’t cut taxes he gave a rebate that is distributed over time. It comes out to a few bucks each week for 2 years, hardly anything that will save citizens from defaulting on loans or spur them to go on spending sprees. Obama and other progressives like to twist and turn words to make things sound much grander than they actually are.

Also with the expiration of the bush cuts people will be effected secondarily with increased consumer costs if not directly by the increase itself. If you also look at the budget bill calculations which assume that the cap and tax bill and the health care bill will be passed (which they won’t) we will take on even more federal debt which will give them an excuse to raise taxes across the board to avert the intentionally made economic disaster.

Just sayin

February 7th, 2010
6:39 pm

That $15.00 less a week witholding has caused me to owe 1300.00 in federal taxes this year. I have never owed taxes before, usually get small refund. Thanks Obama

Jon Burrows

February 11th, 2010
12:59 pm

Obama didn’t cut taxes, what he did amounted to a tax rebate. Those are two very different things.

Becky

April 20th, 2010
7:35 pm

For all of you saying there was a tax cut for all, you don’t know what you are talking about. That “Making Work Pay” was not for everyone. You basically had to make so little that you probably don’t pay taxes anyway. I didn’t get an reduction. A true tax cut would be a reduction in the marginal tax rates, which Bush’s cuts did accomplish. If you want an education, Google tax rates and find articles about the various marginal tax rates throughout history. You will see that everyone benefited from the Bush cuts – not just “the rich” – because the marginal rates went down for all income levels and there was even a reduced rate for the lowest tax bracket. The poster on February 11, Jon Burrows, is correct. I did some research because I heard him recently repeat this claim again, and found that what he calls a tax credit is really a rebate if you buy something (i.e., you won’t get the benefit of this “tax cut” if you don’t buy something, in case you don’t understand) or a handout (the Make Work Pay $; as hard as it may be to understand, if you don’t pay taxes in the first place, that can’t be a tax savings). I really wish people would research what this fraud says and think about his statements in light of the information that is available all over the web, instead of just repeating what he says like little drones. Sadly, I am beginning to understand how we got stuck with this man when I look at how uninformed so many people are.

Obama’s $10 Billion Tax Increase

August 11th, 2010
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[...] you can’t claim President Obama is a tax cutter any [...]

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