As a candidate for the presidency in 2008, and throughout his first term, Barak Obama repeatedly guaranteed that he wouldn't raise taxes on the middle class or those making less than $250K a year. (See HERE) He is quoted as saying: "'I can make a firm pledge' that 'no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes....If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime.'"(See HERE) During his presidency he said: “'For the last few days, leaders in both parties have been working toward an agreement that will prevent a middle-class tax hike from hitting 98 percent of all Americans starting tomorrow,' he said. 'Preventing that tax hike has been my top priority, because the last thing folks, like the folks up here on this stage, can afford right now is to pay an extra $2,000 in taxes next year.'”(see HERE)
Better yet, Obama has remarked: "I have not only pledged not to raise their taxes, I've been the first candidate in this race to specifically say I would cut their taxes." (See HERE) In fact, he committed to cut taxes for 95% of working families. (See HERE and HERE and HERE)
Isn't that fantastic?
Specifically, his tax pledges included: a $500 tax cut for workers and $1000 for working couples; $4,000 American Opportunity Tax Credit for college; a 10% mortgage interest tax credit for struggling homeowners, elimination of Income Taxes for seniors making less than $50,000; "reform the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by making it refundable and allowing low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for their child care expenses;" triple earned income tax credit; and the introduction of health care tax credits. (ibid.)
However, contrary to what Obama had promised, taxes have been raised on "ordinary folks:"
- Payroll taxes: like Social Security withholding, increased from 4.2% to 6.2%, which averages out to about $1,600 a year per middle-class family. (see HERE and HERE),
- Income taxes: Because of the "chained CPI" that determines inflation: "On the tax side, all income tax brackets are subject to inflation. Slowing down the inflation rate slows down the annual rate of growth in all income tax brackets. This means the Obama budget contains a tax increase on 100 percent of middle class taxpayers—anyone who pays the federal income tax. Many other tax provisions—the standard deduction, the personal exemption, PEP and Pease, IRA and 401(k) contribution limits, and many others—are also tied to how CPI is measured. Chained CPI as a stand-alone measure (that is, not paired with tax relief of equal or greater size) is a tax increase and a Taxpayer Protection Pledge violation. Various reports peg the tax increase amount as exceeding $100 billion over the next decade." (See HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE) "The president’s proposal to change the way inflation is calculated means that benefits like the earned income tax credit would grow at a slower pace. His proposed deduction cap would hit people with taxable income as low as $183,000." (See HERE) Obama's 2014 budget contains a "tax proposals that would raise more than $800 billion over a decade," 15% of which will come from households making less than $200k. (See HERE) "The non-partisan Tax Policy Center on Monday said poor households making less than $10,000 a year would face an average of $18 more in taxes in 2015 if Obama's budget were enacted. Households making as little as $30,000 a year would pay an average of $61 more in 2015 and $54 in 2023....upper middle class taxpayers making between $100,000 and $200,000 per year will see a 0.2 percent tax increase of an estimated $382 by 2023." (See HERE)
- Estate Tax: In 2010 it was at zero, and in 2011 it went back up to 55%.(See HERE)
- Cigarette taxes: "One of President Obama’s first acts as President in February of 2009 was to more than double the taxes on tobacco products. This affected about 60 million Americans and disproportionately hurt poor and middle class families." (see HERE and HERE and HERE) And, "policy experts say the budget plan to raise taxes on cigarettes is regressive." (See HERE) Obama's "proposed increase in the tobacco tax would disproportionately affect low- and moderate-income taxpayers, who spend a bigger share of their income on cigarettes than the wealthy." (See HERE)
- Health Insurance and Obamacare: "As the Supreme Court has now authoritatively ruled, the Obamacare individual mandate, requiring workers to purchase the health insurance the government specifies each family must buy, is a tax. And that tax applies to the middle class and working people. CBO estimates that health insurance will cost $15,000 per year on average for families soon after Obamacare is fully implemented, rising rapidly from there. That is the individual mandate tax on the middle class and working people." (See HERE) "Obamacare imposes a penalty—or tax increase—on Americans who do not purchase health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that most of those paying these taxes are middle-class individuals and families making less than 500 percent of the federal poverty level: $59,000 for an individual and $120,000 for a family of four. Three million lower-income and middle-class Americans will pay an estimated $2 billion in these 'mandate taxes.'” (See HERE) "As shown in the chart above, this new tax – defined as such by the Supreme Court, which ruled it constitutional under Congress’s taxing power – hammers not just the middle class, but roughly 600,000 Americans whose incomes fall below the federal poverty line, according to a recent report from the Congressional Budget Office." (See HERE) "A second anti-consumer tax was found in ObamaCare and it levied a 10% tax on tanning bed services, affecting about 30 million Americans. Obviously, a vast majority of these users fall below the richest 1% and make less than $250,000 per year.,,,,In addition to severely limiting the contribution amounts to Flexible Spending Accounts, Obama also raised the limit where families become eligible to write off medical expenses. This ObamaCare provision increases the write-off threshold by 25% to 10% of adjusted gross income. Not surprisingly, this also almost exclusively affects those making under $250,000...individuals making $200,000 per year will see their Medicare taxes increase by 66%, to 2.35%, while self-employed individuals will pay a Medicare rate of 3.8%." (See HERE)(See also HERE and HERE)
Middle-class individuals and families weren't the only one's to whom Obama made tax promises. He also reached out to small businesses. As a candidate, he said: "I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow." (See HERE)
Instead, by lowering the corporate rate and leaving the individual rate untouched, it would put small firms at an even greater disadvantage to large corporations, Danner said." (See HERE) (See also HERE and HERE)
Fox News provides a list of the Top Five Worst Tax Hikes on Small Businesses.
As if that weren't enough, Dan Kish, Senior Vice-President of the Institute for Energy Research, has said regarding regarding the government allowing energy development on federal-controlled lands and water: A pro-growth approach would spin-off revenues that would dwarf those the government is seeking from increased energy taxes. Yet the present administration always seems to turn to taxes as a solution to chronic economic shortfalls…a failed strategy with exactly opposite consequences." (See HERE)
So, another Leftist LUNC of Obamanomics was that the middle-class and poor and small businesses were told one thing about taxes, only to receive the opposite.
[Update 08/30/15: Obama's Promises on Taxes, How they are Holding Up]
[Update 11/11/2015: Shhhh...Liberals Want this Kept Secret, The date in the meme below should read 2013.]
See this video: HERE
For an explanation as to why this Leftist LUNC has occurred, please see: Gov: Wrong Tool for the Right Job - Strength in Numbers and Cold Nanny,, and The Politics of Compassion, Emotions, Ignorance, Denial, Blame-Shifting, The Politics of Spending--Intro, The Politics of Spending--Debt, The Politics of Spending--Public vs. Private, The Politics of Spending--Crony-ism, The Politics of Spending--Education, and The Politics of Taxing the Rich. [the unlinked topics will be posted later as they are completed]
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