Fact Check - Joe's Taxes

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2008
Fact Check - Joe's Taxes
3
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 6:52am

From CNN:




Fact check: Plumber Joe's taxes
McCain has entrepreneurs spooked about tax hikes, but fewer than 2% of small business owners would pay more under Obama's plan.










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Last Updated: October 16, 2008: 12:30 PM ET









plumber_joe.ap.03.jpg

Plumber Joe Wurzelbacher heard his name invoked more than two dozen times in the final presidential debate.



iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 8:40am
For those who are affected, the increase would be levied only on a part of their earnings, not all of them.


This is the money quote from that article - though all of it is good. I've heard this referred to far less frequently than it should have been, so far in all this discussion of "tax hikes," etc. People - OK, right-wingers, LOL - seem very, VERY concerned that "Obama will raise their taxes," claiming again and again that they're worried about the small business owners that they know, etc.... Only thing is: most small businesses don't earn anywhere near $250,000. By factcheck's estimate, it's less than 2%.

BUT REGARDLESS OF THE PERCENTAGE OF BUSINESSES AFFECTED, THEY WILL ONLY HAVE THAT PORTION OF THEIR INCOME WHICH IS ABOVE THE $250,000 CUTOFF BE SUBJECTED TO THE NEW, HIGHER RATE.

Even using Joe Wurzelbacher's (now known to be false) figures of "between $250,000 and $280,000," and using the most generous end of that scale - $280,000, Joe and his now-nonexistent plumbing business would be subjected to the higher tax rate for only $30,000 of that income. He would see an additional 3% tax.....on $30,000. I doubt seriously whether that would even be enough for a new set of tools for just himself, let alone the difference between hiring another worker and NOT hiring them....or providing health insurance and NOT providing it.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-03-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 8:44am
As usual "scare tactics" used by the Republicans.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 9:47am

And I've begun to come to the opinion that anyone who doesn't know these facts are not reading these kind of posts.