I have a friend who grew up in small town Texas, and like many of similar upbringing, he has always voted Republican. Even though he leans a little left on some social issues (he is pro-gay rights, pro-privacy, etc.), he is extremely conservative fiscally, almost out into Goldwater/Paul territory. We have always enjoyed debating politics with each other, but I've noticed a real change in his tenor in the past week. I think he has reached the point where he's starting to really think about voting for Obama, and he just needs me to push him over the edge. And I think I was getting close until this morning's WSJ op-ed piece that makes a lot of claims about Obama's tax plan. More after this...
Here is the article in question for those who haven't seen it:
WSJ Op-Ed: Obama's 95% Illusion
Immediately, I noticed a few things about the article that are fishy. For one thing, it is unsigned, which always sets off an alarm with me when you don't have the guts to sign an opinion piece. Secondly, it uses a graph that is attributed to the AEI, and we all know their record when it comes to telling the truth.
I pointed those two things out to my friend, and he agreed with both of them. We went over the tax plan on Obama's website again, and again, he agreed with not all, but many of Obama's proposals.
So then I tried to get him to express exactly what his hang up was, and we eventually got to this point. Where lower income people are involved, he is just fine with people getting enough tax breaks that they essentially pay zero, they can get a refund check for every penny they paid in in withholding during the year. But if it crosses the line to the government actually paying them more than they had withheld, suddenly we've massively expanded welfare and he can't stomach that.
So that is where I am stuck. The nameless drone at the AEI obviously thinks that Obama's plan will result in this welfare condition, but that does not make it so. However, I cannot find anything to rebut or disprove this from our side. So I must ask for the help of the brainiacs and policy wonks who hang out here. Can someone point me to the info I need?