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Obama unveils tax cut plan for middle class and seniors |
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By Sam Youngman
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Posted: 09/19/07 07:31 PM [ET] |
Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Tuesday unveiled his plan to significantly cut taxes for the middle class, seniors and homeowners.
But at least one of Obama’s Democratic rivals and some analysts questioned the specifics — and the wisdom — of the senator’s plan.
Obama called for a four-part plan that would cut taxes for 150 million Americans by about $1,000 per household per year, institute a universal homeowners’ tax credit that Obama said would benefit about 10 million homeowners who earn less than $50,000 a year, eliminate the income tax for about 7 million seniors and simplify tax filings.
In remarks at an event sponsored by the Brookings Institution, Obama said Republicans have been able to “ride the anti-tax sentiment of the country” to tax cuts that unfairly benefit the wealthiest of Americans.
Obama said the social compact — that if Americans work hard, they will be rewarded — is “starting to crumble … it’s starting to erode.”
The Obama campaign rolled out tax-policy experts and Obama’s own policy advisers to answer media questions and promote the plan.
“Barack Obama’s plan would restore some much-needed fairness in our tax system for the middle class by making work pay, simplifying our tax code, making housing more affordable and ensuring that millions of seniors never have to pay income taxes,” former Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal said in a release from the campaign. “Taken together, millions and millions of families will fill out fewer forms and have more in their pockets.”
Some, however, were quick to criticize Obama’s ability to pay for other programs simply by raising taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent of the country and closing loopholes in the tax system.
A senior fellow at the Urban Institute and director of the Tax Policy Center, Leonard Burman, said Obama had the beginnings of some good ideas with regard to closing loopholes and simplifying the tax code, but the idea of cutting taxes as “goodies” for some Americans would be an extension of President Bush’s legacy.
“I was a little disappointed,” Burman said.
Burman, who was a deputy assistant secretary at the Treasury Department in the Clinton administration but said he isn’t supporting a candidate now, said some of Obama’s proposals were “misguided” and would be “costly.”
“[The plans] could’ve been designed to be more fiscally responsible,” he said.
Obama rival and former Sen. John Edwards’s (D-N.C.) campaign used Obama’s proposals as a way to promote its own platform and criticized the senator for being too vague in unveiling his plan.
“As Sen. Edwards said in July when he unveiled his detailed plan to reform the tax code and create three new tax breaks for the middle class, our country is divided into two Americas — one for those at the top and one for everyone else,” Edwards spokesman Eric Schultz said in an e-mail. “Sen. Edwards believes this is an issue of fairness — those at the top should pay their fair share, instead of making hard-working families bear most of the burden. But we also think when it comes to selecting a president, specifics matter, and we look forward to seeing what tax rates Sen. Obama proposes.” |
