A lot has been said already, and some around here feel like it is beating a dead horse but i want to make one last attempt to help you get it Mr. President. I have seen all kinds of diaries pointing out this and that about the Bush/Obama tax breaks but let me give you a down to earth middle class opinion on the tax breaks. I do not spell exceptionally well when typing, and some of the grammar trolls flip out sometimes about my grammar but here it is in a nutshell - screw it you can have my tax break.
I would like for you to see just what it is on a weekly basis that this morally imperative tax breaks gives us! Why you may ask? Because last time i checked my taxes came out of each check, either weekly or bi-weekly depending on your employer. I know it hurts sometimes to live in reality but thats the middle class reality.
You assume that the tax rate going back to what it was before the bush tax cuts hurts the middle class. I am not trying to put you down or anything so let me just present you a few facts:
Tax Brackets searchable by year and marrital status
The current six rate brackets of 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33% and 35% which used to be 15%, 28%, 31%, 36% and 39.6% under the old tax policy. The brackets for 2010 were (for single)
- 0-8,375 (10%)
- 8,375-34,000 (15%)
- 34,000-82,400 (25%)
- 82,400-171,850(28%)
- 171,850-373,650(33%)
- 373,650 and up (35%)
Ok so that is now how about back in 2000? well lets look at the brackets for that time since under Bush tax plan there are 6 rates and under previous there are 5:
- 0-26,500 (15%)
- 26,550-63,550 (28%)
- 63,550-132,600 (31%)
- 132,600-288,350 (36%)
- 288,350 and up (39.6%)
So in reality Mr president, under the bush tax cuts - lets say you made 50,000 that puts you in the 25% bracket where before you were in the 28% bracket so a whopping savings of........3% which works out to 1500 bucks a year which over 52 weeks equals about 28 bucks a week. Sure that used to be a tank of gas in the 80's but in this brave new world we are in nowadays what is it really? Last time i went to Pizza Hut it was about 30 bucks after the tip, so lets just say as an average middle class american i can take my wife out to a romanitc dinner at Pizza Hut, mainly because at Olive Garden a romantic dinner is over $40 bucks.
HOWEVER MR PRESIDENT!!!, if you look at the top tax bracket and lets say you made... 500k under bush it is 35% where as before it was 39.6 which is a savings of a whopping 4.6%. Which in turn relates to.......23,000 bucks a year. Which in turn relates to 442.30 PER WEEK which is more than a lot of middle class people bring home in a week. Damn i wish i was rich so i could basically get an extra paycheck every week from a 4.6% tax break...
BUT WAIT MR PRESIDENT!!!! What about your #1 concern troll Lawrence O'Donnel?!?!? He made such a great argument while he was insulting Alan Grayson on MSNBC the other night!! "BUT YOU ARE RAISING TAXES BY 50% ON THOSE WHO CAN LEAST AFFORD TO PAY IT!!" Ok i love math Mr President, so here ya go. At face value yes it is a 50% increase, HOWEVER those pesky little facts keep coming back around to bite ya in the arse.... Going from 10% to 15% tax liability for the bottom bracket increases their taxes by how much Mr. President? Quick math here but hmm 8k is the top of the bottom bracket and 10% of 8k is $800 per year. If i add half again its 1200 bucks a year and divide that by 52 weeks since all us poor folks get paid weekly, it works out too.........
SEVEN DOLLARS AND SIXTY NINE CENTS MR PRESIDENT.
$7.69 a week is what my tax liability would go up per week Mr President? Damn that might buy me a Whopper or a Big Mac Meal Deal. WTF?! You mean you sold us out for that? Come on Mr. President surely you didn't think i couldn't deal with paying 8 bucks more a week in taxes. Really?
So in reality is losing 28 bucks a week a big deal to the middle class? Or $7.69 a week to the bottom tax bracket? Me personally no. I personally would rather lose my tax break. I know for a fact that those same tax breaks have not created jobs, and i can guaran-damn-tee you that me losing 1 night out a week or one big mac a week is not worth allowing the republicans one damn iota of victory. So Mr. President, as that idiot journalist that you beat last election said, "Thanks but no thanks"