I have a bit of a situation on my hands as we enter the last week before the election.
I am in a mixed marriage -- that is, I am married to a pretty loyal Republican who comes from a pro-Republican family. She's a wonderful person, but can be hard-headed when it comes to our differences in worldviews.
As we live in a key battleground state, Ohio, I'd obviously love to bring her vote to our side prior to next Tuesday, or, at the very least, get her to consider not voting at all in the presidential race.
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The tax issue is at the head of her list of reasons for voting, along with abortion. I had told her that Obama's policies were going to be more favorable to us, but I'm not sure it had sunk in.
Then today, I stumbled into http://www.electiontaxes.com/
I found this to be a very convincing tool, in that it is 1) non-partisan, and based off calculations made by the Tax Policy Center; and 2) pretty specific in offering details in projecting your individual tax situation.
At this point, most people know that Obama is promising a tax cut for 95 percent of the population. This site allows people to put some heft behind that statement via specific figures. It asks for specific input over 19 different categories, and then gives you side-by-side figures of what you will pay for each of the next four years under each candidate's plan.
For our family, Obama's promise of a middle-class tax cut worked out to be a difference of on average $2,000 per year compared to McCain's plan. (And that does not even take into account the hit we would take on our health-care, should McCain's plan to tax benefits above $5,000 be made a reality. We'd have about $7,000 worth of exposure there).
The meme of "Republicans will cut your taxes, while Democrats will raise them" is very well established, and is one of the key (false) perceptions that McCain is counting on to help him down the stretch. This tool is a great push-back against that argument, and a real eye-opener for most Americans!
I haven't gotten feedback yet on how this news is going to be greeted in our house, but I know my spouse already had real concerns about how taxes would impact our budget, with a boost in our expenses coming next year via Catholic high school tuition.
At the very least, this is going to give her real pause in making her decision. I can't help but think it would do the same thing for many, many Americans who have yet to vote. Canvassers and phone-bank folks would do well to be aware of this as a persuasive tool. The facts are on our side!
(A final note: I know that the Obama site has a tax-cut calculator on it, as well, but the fact that it is partisan and is less specific in its details makes that a less effective option for convincing undecideds, IMO).