GOP Leadership.........
While Republicans have long believed that every day in America is like the Fourth of July our friends believe that every day is tax day ( April 15th ).
Bad tax policy is bad economics and is not in the best interests of our nation. This briefing contains vital information on what the democrat party and their potential candidates have in store for our country. The stakes are high. We do not tax our way out of a recession. John McCain supports making the 2003 tax cuts permanent and lowering corporate taxes. John McCain has also vowed to resist any budget with earmarks and has never taken an earmark himself so he has the right discipline on wasteful spending that is required when cutting taxes.
ONWARD TO VICTORY............
Today Is Tax Day, And A Year From Now Clinton And Obama Hope To Be Taking More Of Americans' Hard-Earned Money To Fund Their Big Government Spending
______________________________________________________________________
FLASHBACK: "Republicans Believe Every Day Is The Fourth Of July, But Democrats Believe Every Day Is April 15." - Ronald Reagan (James F. Clarity and Warren Weaver Jr., "'There You Go Again,'" The New York Times, 10/10/84)
Sens. Hillary Clinton And Barack Obama Both Plan To Raise Taxes Significantly If Elected:
Obama Has Called For Higher Income Taxes, Social Security Taxes, Investment Taxes, And Corporate Taxes, As Well As "Massive New Domestic Spending." "Obama's transformation, if you go by his campaign so far, would mean higher income taxes, higher Social Security taxes, higher investment taxes, higher corporate taxes, massive new domestic spending, and a healthcare plan that perhaps could be the next step to a full-scale, single-payer system. Is that what most Americans want, someone who will fulfill a Democratic policy wish list?" (James Pethokoukis, "Barack Hussein Reagan? Ronald Wilson Obama?," U.S. News & World Report's "Capital Commerce" Blog, www.usnews.com, 2/12/08)
Obama Has Also Said He'd Tax "Dirty Energy" Like Coal And Natural Gas. Obama: "What we ought to tax is dirty energy, like coal and, to a lesser extent, natural gas." ("Q&A With Sen. Barack Obama," San Antonio Express-News, 2/19/08)
Sen. Clinton Has Called For Higher Taxes For "The Common Good." Sen. Clinton: "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." (Beth Fouhy, "San Francisco Rolls Out The Red Carpet For The Clintons," The Associated Press, 6/29/04)
Sen. Clinton: "[S]omething Has To Be Taken Away From Some People." (Sen. Hillary Clinton, Remarks At The Pentecost 2007 Forum At George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 6/4/07)
NOTE: Obama's Chief Economic Advisor Has Said That Higher Taxes Could "Significantly Reduce" Americans' Retirement Savings. Austan Goolsbee: "Future increases in tax rates potentially threaten to significantly reduce the value of your retirement savings and may even mean that you should not save in 401(k) accounts at all." (Austan Goolsbee, Op-Ed, "In Retirement Planning, There Is Nothing Certain About Death And Taxes," The New York Times, 11/9/06)
Both Sen. Clinton And Obama Would Raise The Capital Gains Tax Rate, Which Impacts Middle-Income Americans:
Obama: "I think that we can have a capital gains rate that is higher than 15 percent." (CNBC's "Closing Bell," 3/27/08)
CNBC's Maria Bartiromo: "Right now the capital gains tax is 15%. He [Obama] wants to take that up to possibly 28%. ... That's a big deal. Because you're not just talking about the rich. You're talking about 100 million Americans who own stocks that will get impacted by that capital gains tax increase." (MSNBC's "MSNBC Live," 3/28/08)
Sen. Clinton: "You know, capital gains, I think we may have to nudge a little bit..." (CNBC's "Wall Street Journal Report," 12/9/07)
The Wall Street Journal: "But It's Not Only The Wealthy Who Will Take A Hit From Higher Capital Gains Taxes. Recent Surveys Indicate That Roughly 52% Of American Adults Own Stock In Some Form, And Last Year 8.5 Million Of These Investors Paid A Capital Gains Tax." (Editorial, "A Capital Gains Primer," The Wall Street Journal, 10/15/07)
The Joint Committee On Taxation Reported Figures Demonstrating That Americans Earning Less Than $50,000 Benefitted From Lower Capital Gains And Dividends Tax Rates. "Figures from the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) help support the idea that more middle class Americans benefit from this tax break. In 2005, about 20 percent of the taxpayers who were expected to report capital gains income -- and 24 percent of those expected to report dividend income -- earned less than $50,000 annually, the JCT data showed." (Joseph J. Schatz, "Tax Break Tries On 'Middle Class' Label," Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 2/17/06)
Obama Would Raise The Payroll Tax, And Sen. Clinton Is Considering It As Well:
Obama: "If We Kept The Payroll Tax Rate Exactly The Same But Applied It To All Earnings And Not Just The First $97,500, We Could Virtually Eliminate The Entire Social Security Shortfall." (Sen. Barack Obama, Op-Ed, "Fixed-Income Seniors Can Expect A Tax Cut," Quad City Times [IA], 9/21/07)
Obama: "I Think That Lifting The Cap Is Probably Going To Be The Best Option." (Sen. Barack Obama, Democrat Presidential Candidates Debate, Hanover, NH, 9/26/07)
Obama's Chief Economic Advisor Austan Goolsbee: "An Increase In The Payroll Tax Of 6 Percentage Points Phased In Over Many Years Or Decades Doesn't Strike Me As A Dramatic Move." (James Pethokoukis, "Goolsbee Speaks!," U.S. News & World Report, 4/11/08)
Obama's Social Security Tax Hike Would Be "The Largest Tax Increase In American History." "As far as dealing with Social Security goes, raising taxes--by lifting the cap on taxable wages--seems a popular way of returning solvency to the system. (Such a move, by the way, would be the largest tax increase in American history.)" (James Pethokoukis, "Forget Clintonomics--This Is Mondalenomics," U.S. News & World Report's "Capital Commerce" Blog, www.usnews.com, 9/27/07)
The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Estimates That Eliminating The Earnings Cap Would Increase Taxes By More Than $1.4 Trillion Over Ten Years. (The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, "Options To Adjust Social Security Earnings Cap, Static Impact On Individual Income And Payroll Tax Liability And Revenue ($ Billions), 2009-18," www.taxpolicycenter.org, 1/2/08)
Eliminating The Earnings Cap Would Reduce The Take-Home Pay Of 10.3 Million Workers By An Average Of $5,650 And Raise Taxes On Four Million Workers Over Age 50. (Editorial, "Caps Off For Obama," Investor's Business Daily, 9/24/07)
"The Self-Employed Would Be Subject To A Double Whammy, Since They Pay Both The Employee And Employer Portion Of The Payroll Tax." (Editorial, "Caps Off For Obama," Investor's Business Daily, 9/25/07)
Three Million Small Business Owners Would Have Their Taxes Raised. "Lost in Obama's calculations is that many of the people who would be affected by eliminating the earnings cap are small-business owners ... Taxes would also be raised on 3 million small-business owners." (Editorial, "Caps Off For Obama," Investor's Business Daily, 9/24/07)
Privately, Sen. Clinton Has Also Hinted She'd Raise Payroll Taxes To Fund Social Security. "Hillary Rodham Clinton has given a private clue on an issue she has refused to discuss publicly how to preserve Social Security in the long term. The Democratic presidential contender told an Iowa voter she would be willing to consider an idea that her Democratic rival John Edwards has been promoting raising Social Security taxes on high-income earners. ... She told him she didn't want to put an additional tax burden on the middle class but would consider a 'gap,' with no Social Security taxes on income from $97,500 to around $200,000. Anything above that could be taxed." (Nedra Pickler, "Clinton Weighs Social Security Tax 'Gap, '" The Associated Press, 10/12/07)
Sen. Clinton And Obama Want Higher Taxes On Business, Even Though We Have The Second Highest Corporate Tax Rate Among Developed Nations:
"[Obama] Is Aggressive In Wanting To Go After 'Loopholes' And 'Tax Havens,' Pain-Free Euphemisms For Raising Corporate Taxes." (Calvin Woodward, "'08 Tax Plans Claim Gain Without Pain," The Associated Press, 10/1/07)
Sen. Clinton: "I want to take a hard look at corporate tax reform as well. It is simply not right that as corporate profits have skyrocketed, the percentage of taxes paid by corporations has fallen. We can fix that if we close the loopholes, end the unjustifiable tax breaks, and stop subsidizing the movement of jobs to foreign tax havens. We're going to get that done..." (Sen. Hillary Clinton, Remarks On Rebuilding The Middle Class, Cedar Rapids, IA, 10/8/07)
The U.S. High Business Tax Rate Deters Investment, Which Translates Into Slower Economic Growth, A Slower Advance In Labor Productivity And Less Employment. "The U.S. now has the second-highest statutory corporate tax rate among developed nations, exceeded only by Japan. ... What is the effect of U.S. government inaction while other nations continue to reform their business tax systems? In a world of greater economic integration and increased trade and capital flows, a firm's decision about where to locate and expand its operations will be increasingly influenced by factors such as a country's statutory corporate tax rate and overall investment climate. By standing still, the United States can expect to see reduced inflows of foreign capital and investment because the United States will be a less attractive place in which to invest, innovate and grow. U.S. firms wil l face a higher cost of capital than foreign firms, making it more difficult to compete in foreign markets. In the near-term, this would translate into slower economic growth, a slower advance in labor productivity, and less employment." (Robert Carroll, "The Economic Consequences Of Being Left Behind: A U.S. Business Tax System That Is Out Of Line Internationally," www.taxfoundation.org, 4/4/08)
NOTE: "The Industries That Are Being Hurt The Most Are Those That Manufacture Or Buy Capital-Intensive Products." (Robert Carroll, "The Economic Consequences Of Being Left Behind: A U.S. Business Tax System That Is Out Of Line Internationally," www.taxfoundation.org, 4/4/08)
Both Democrat Candidates Have Big Spending Agendas Which They Claim Are Paid For ... Meaning More Taxes?
USA Today: "[C]linton And Obama Both Offer A Long List Of New Spending Proposals That Suggests A Lack Of Seriousness In Confronting The Nation's Fiscal Condition." (Editorial, "Democrats Promise A Lot, But Who Will Pay The Bill?," USA Today, 2/25/08)
If Sen. Clinton Could Enact All Of Her Campaign Proposals, Taxpayers Would Be Faced With Financing Over $709 Billion In New Spending Over One White House Term. (RNC Research)
Sen. Clinton: "Everything I've Put Forward, I've Said How I Would Pay For It." (Sally Jenkins, "Growing Up Rodham," The Washington Post, 12/9/07)
If Obama Could Enact All Of His Campaign Proposals, Taxpayers Would Be Faced With Financing Over $662 Billion In New Spending Over One White House Term. (RNC Research)
Obama: "We Account For Every Single Dollar That We Propose." (Sen. Barack Obama, CNN Democrat Presidential Candidates Debate, Myrtle Beach, SC, 1/21/08)
Sen. Clinton And Obama Have Both Secured Millions In Pork Barrel Spending At The Expense Of Taxpayers' Pocketbooks:
In 2007, Sen. Clinton Secured 281 Pork Projects, For A Total Of $296.2 Million. (Citizens Against Government Waste, "2008 Congressional Pig Book Member List (Dollar Amount)," www.cagw.org, Accessed 4/1/08)
In 2007, Obama Secured 53 Pork Projects, For A Total Of $97.4 Million. (Citizens Against Government Waste, "2008 Congressional Pig Book Member List (Dollar Amount)," www.cagw.org, Accessed 4/1/08)
Sen. Clinton And Obama Get Poor Marks From Tax And Spending Interest Groups:
The National Taxpayers Union Gave Sen. Clinton A Score Of 3 Percent And A Grade Of "F" For Her Voting Record In 2007. ("National Taxpayers Union Rates Congress: 110th Congress - 1st Session 2007," www.ntu.org, Accessed 4/9/08)
The National Taxpayers Union Gave Obama A Score Of 5 Percent And A Grade Of "F" For His Voting Record In 2007. ("National Taxpayers Union Rates Congress: 110th Congress - 1st Session 2007," www.ntu.org, Accessed 4/9/08)
Americans For Tax Reform Gave Sen. Clinton A Lifetime Rating Of 6.7 Out Of 100. (Americans For Tax Reform Website, www.atr.org, Accessed 1/8/08)
Americans For Tax Reform Gave Obama A Lifetime Rating Of 7.5 Out Of 100. (Americans For Tax Reform Website, www.atr.org, Accessed 1/8/08)
Citizens Against Government Waste Gave Sen. Clinton A Lifetime Rating Of 10 Out Of 100. (Citizens Against Government Waste, "CCAGW Challenges Presidential Candidates On Earmarks," Press Release, 12/27/07)
Citizens Against Government Waste Gave Obama A Lifetime Rating Of 22 Out Of 100. (Citizens Against Government Waste, "CCAGW Challenges Presidential Candid ates On Earmarks," Press Release, 12/27/07)
PDF Format
A Product Of The RNC Research Department
No comments:
Post a Comment