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VoteGopher | Compare McCain and Obama | Taxes and Spending
SUMMARY: PRESIDENT
OBAMA VS. CANDIDATE OBAMA
SUMMARY: CONGRESS
DEMS VS. GOP VS. PRES
ECONOMIC
INTERNATIONAL
DOMESTIC
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CANDIDATE QUALITIES
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06/30/2009 3:00 PM
Issue Homepage - Taxes and Spending Bookmark and Share
PRESIDENT OBAMA: ACTIONS IN OFFICE
  • Sent budget plan to Congress, which included redistributing $1 trillion from the upper to the lower class in order to give tax cuts to the poor, increase college loans, and revamp the health care system
  • Proposed making this years $3.5 million estate tax permanent
  • Eliminated capital gains for new investments in small businesses beginning in 2014
  • 28% limit on itemized deductions, affecting couples who earn more than $250,000
  • Released a budget plan to cut the deficit from over $1 trillion to about $500 million by 2013
  • Signed economic stimulus bill containing $301 billion in tax cuts, including a $400 tax cut for any worker making less than $75,000 per year
  • Will raise revenue by allowing the Bush tax cuts on upper-income earners to expire after 2010, keeping the estate tax at 2009 levels, and increasing IRS pursuit of tax shelters and loopholes
  • Will cut spending on the war in Iraq and Medicare Advantage payments to insurance companies
    • CANDIDATE OBAMA
    ELECTION 2008
    • Proposed tax cuts for low- and middle- income earners and many other specific groups, including a $500 tax cut for individual workers
    • Supported income, payroll, and capital gains tax increases for upper-income earners making more than $250K/year, and supported repealing the Bush tax cuts for those upper-income earners
    • Did not pledge to balance the budget, but planned to eliminate some wasteful spending while increasing spending on healthcare, energy, and the military
    • Pledged 5-minute tax filing for all taxpayers who do not itemize.

     

     
    		 
    CANDIDATE McCAIN
    ELECTION 2008
    • During the campaign promised no tax increases and to make the Bush cuts permanent
    • Wanted to further tax cuts for people with dependents,   businesses, and estates
    • Supported creating an optional flat income tax
    • Pledged to balance the budget by 2013
    • Proposed to cut earmark,subsidies and other unspecified areas
    • Pledged to balance the budget by 2013

     
     
    DEMOCRATS
    IN CONGRESS
    • Supported Pres. Obama's plan to include lower- and middle-class tax cuts in the economic stimulus bill
    • House leaders want to increase income taxes on the wealthiest earners soon, but Senate leaders may want to wait
    • Some supported Pres. Bush's initial plan for large tax cuts, but nearly all opposed his second round of tax cuts in 2003
    • Most oppose repealing the estate tax, though many want to apply it only to the wealthiest estates
    • Most now support budgets with high federal spending, though a group of "Blue Dog Democrats" expresses concern about the federal budget and entitlement issues

     

     
    		 
    REPUBLICANS
    IN CONGRESS
    • Nearly all have pledged to oppose any tax increases
    • Most supported proposal to stimulate the economy by permanently cutting income and capital gains taxes for all taxpayers
    • Most support repealing the estate tax entirely
    • Many support creating a flat tax, and some support the "Fair Tax" proposal to eliminate the current tax code and replace it with a national sales tax
    • The party supported budgets with high federal spending while they controlled Congress, but now condemns Democrats for too much federal spending.

     

     
     
    ISSUE BACKGROUND
     
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