 "Photo: Jacob Naasz")
If you're like me, a news junkie and barstool political theorist, this one's for you.
If you don't care about nitpicky details, I suggest you flip somewhere else. The comics page is always nice.
This presidential primary season was truly epic. Whether you were cheering Hillary Clinton's epic refusal to throw in the towel, or you were continually exasperated at her epic refusal, like a persistent case of high school acne, to just go away already, you've got to know it was one for the record books.
So now that it's over, what does that leave for those of us who just don't feel they've had a full day if they haven't gotten into an argument over some mundane piece of political minutiae? It's going to be a while before the Obama and McCain advertising campaigns really get up to speed. So now's the time to get your details straight for the inevitable arguments.
Let's talk taxes.
The Tax Policy Center (TPC), one of those groups of people out there that love to analyze the crap out of things, released a study June 11 of Obama's and McCain's tax plans. Employees of the TPC admit they had to make a few assumptions regarding details that haven't been fleshed out by the candidates yet, but since this is some of the best information we've got, let's run with it.
The gist is: absolutely nothing in either plan is particularly surprising. If your opinion of Republicans is they're out to help the rich, McCain's tax plan supports that notion. According to the TPC's analysis, if you're one of the blessed few people on this planet pulling down more than $2.9 million a year, you get to keep an extra $269,364 of it. Lucky you. God knows you need it.
On the other hand, if you're making less than $19,000, you'll get to keep an extra $19. While I like the symmetry of those numbers, the fact that you'll get 4 gallons of gas and a candy bar's worth of a tax break when you're probably struggling just to keep the kids from starving to death isn't going to cheer you.
Obama's plan is, unsurprisingly, the opposite. People making more than $2.9 million get the joy of chipping in an extra $700,000, while those making less than $19,000 keep $567 more. I can't say I'm stoked about the rich having to throw more cash in the till, but I also have a hard time feeling sympathetic to the rich man's plight. I don't think he'll starve.
Where things will probably start to matter to us ("us" being college students) is somewhere in the middle. In between the $19,000 to $66,000 mark, the Obama tax plan gives greater breaks, around $700 worth. This should matter to you, because it's likely that's what you'll be making in your first job outside of college. For those deluded few of you thinking you'll jump straight into the $100,000 job, Obama's tax plan still gets you a couple hundred bucks more back.
Also, for college students, Obama is increasing the Hope tax credit to $4,000. It just requires 100 hours of community service at the end of your college career. The original Hope credit ran up to $1,800, so that puts the value of your labor at $22 per hour for that service, which isn't too bad.
However, neither plan does anything at all to address our growing national debt. This annoys me. Greatly. I'd rather see a complete end to the Bush administration's tax cuts than the selective dismantling each candidate has proposed as long as we could run a balanced budget. I've heard people say it's okay to run a deficit. That debt isn't bad. My reaction is admittedly knee-jerk and non-scientific: stuff that, debt is bad. We've run up a huge one lately, borrowed heavily from other countries and now, as a result, a weak dollar is being blamed for spiraling fuel costs.
The McCain camp claims he'll offset this problem by cutting government pork. Right. No major political party in the last two decades has shown an interest in cutting government costs. Republicans like to talk about it, but I've never seen them do it. Democrats, well, you know.
But, I'm willing to eat my disappointment for five pieces of silver. Vote Obama!
On a final note, reading the TPC's analysis of the subject will give you a much greater understanding of the issue than I ever could, and I suggest you do it. The report is located on the TPC Web site www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm?ID=411693. It's only 36 pages and will go a long way to helping you make up your mind. Stay informed, y'all.
