Not Joe the Plumber, but SAHM

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-2008
Not Joe the Plumber, but SAHM
246
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 10:49am

My Open Letter:

Dear Senator Obama,

I am a stay-at-home mom living in the over $250k tax bracket. I want to ask you why you feel my family is not doing it's part to share the wealth in this country. Our family does well but we also pay taxes at the highest marginal rate. We do not have millions or the kind of lifestyle that would get us access to tax loopholes. We only get deductions for home mortgage interests, state taxes paid and charitable contributions. Last year those three deductions were capped because the government limits the deductions at our income level. In the past we have been stuck in AMT which ensures we do not underpay our fair share of taxes.

Because of our family's income level, our children will not qualify for student loans or other aid. Therefore we must save entirely for their college. We save as much as we can. In recent weeks lost 30% of those savings as well as a decent amount of our retirement savings and the few mutual fund investments we have are under water. The only other asset we have is our family home. We only have one. It would be really tough to sell it in this market, we've lost a large chunk of our equity.

We have never received a stimulus check, yet we do our part to donate to charities we believe in, invest in the market and spend to keep the economy going. And we pay our taxes. There is no question that the opportunities in this great country have allowed us to achieve the American Dream. For that I am grateful.

Your proposals will take an additional 12% out of our annual family budget by increasing the marginal tax rate and increasing payroll taxes. We aren't struggling yet but we will be if your tax proposals pass. We will have to stop or severely limit college savings, with one child only 3.5 years from college and the savings down 30%. Last year we paid enough in Federal Taxes to supply 240 individuals with a Bush stimulus check, similar to the stimulus plan you propose if you are elected (I guess that continuation of the same Bush economic polices is good). I have no doubt that some of what we paid went to wasteful government projects and earmark spending that did not help any struggling families. You say $18 billion in earmarks is not a lot of money to you but 12% of my family budget is a lot to me and my children. I do not begrudge what we already give the government, but I will argue that we are doing our share. I argue we are patriotic and we are neighborly.

We are upper middle class, we are not like your friends, Oprah and Warren Buffet. Our priorities are saving for our retirement, our kids college and paying off our house. We can comfortably do those three things now, though we are worried about the economy like everyone else.

I am a registered Democrat and have always believed in social programs for those who need them. I still believe in them. But I do not understand why when you speak that it sounds as though my family is getting something over on this country. That we aren't doing our part. That we don't pay enough tax. That we don't do enough to lift others up. I say we are doing a lot by not asking anything from the government. I say it is the government that is letting the American people down, not us.

If this economy gets worse my husbands job will be at risk. We could lose our home along with the remainder of our savings. The only good news I see coming from the Democrats is that maybe then we can have the government contribute to our children's college education, we'll get a tax cut and might finally see one of those stimulus checks. Then you'd finally get your chance to lift my family up.

Pennsylvania Mom
http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/

Pennsylvania Mom http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-16-2005
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 10:54am
I just couldn't agree more with your post!




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baby development pregnancy calendar


iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-2008
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 11:06am
Thank you. I used to believe the rich got all kinds of tax loopholes and paid very little tax. But it's a myth. Our deductions are capped and we get stuck in AMT some years. My family paid $144,000 in income tax last year. But Obama would call me not-neighborly enough and Biden would say I'm not patriotic enough. If the government could stop being so wasteful, and stop things like earmarks, they could actually use my tax dollars to help those who have less. Big government = big waste and I don't want to fund that.
Pennsylvania Mom http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/
Avatar for litlpixy
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-06-2004
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 11:10am

Very nice. My father is in that tax bracket. He's a small businessman. That whole taxing system will kill him financially. My family's goal is to get to that bracket. But who wants to? It definitely puts a cap on the American dream.


SAHM too,


Annette

Acorn - they're

"It's time to put the election behind us and the country in front of us. Barack Obama wasn't my choice, but come January 20th, he will be MY President.... I will not seek to see all

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2007
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 11:14am

I don't want to get involved in a debate about your income and the taxes that you pay but I did want to point out one thing. You mentioned wasteful spending and earmarks but cutting out earmarks would not save as much money as you would think.


http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_budget_according_to_mccain_part_i.html


McCain's Earmark Sleight-of-Hand


The McCain campaign has been vague about where, exactly, the candidate will cut spending. But one theme has emerged consistently: McCain will save money by eliminating earmarks:

McCain (April 15): I will veto every bill with earmarks, until the Congress stops sending bills with earmarks. ... The great goal is to get the American economy running at full strength again. ... And one very direct way to achieve that is by taking the savings from earmark, program review, and other budget reforms.

McCain (April 16): I can show you $35 billion just in the last two years of pork-barrel projects that should be eliminated that would certainly help pay for a lot of that . And $65 billion that's already on the books.

McCain (April 20): Two years in a row, last two years, the president of the United States has signed in a law, two big-spending, pork-barrel-laden bills worth $35 billion. That increases the budget, the baseline of the budget. In the years before that, $65 billion. You do away with those, there’s $100 billion right there, before you look at any agency of government.





McCain photo

Chrissy
mom to Aidan 8/21/03
Grayson Blaine 12/30/07

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-2008
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 11:16am
If they are valid projects they should go through the regular budget process. Earmarks serve the interests of Congressman and special interests and bypass official scrutiny. However many billions it would save it's something that could go to help the middle class.
Pennsylvania Mom http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2007
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 11:31am

<<However many billions it would save it's something that could go to help the middle class.>>


But what I'm wondering is how do you know that it would save billions?

Chrissy
mom to Aidan 8/21/03
Grayson Blaine 12/30/07

Avatar for litlpixy
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-06-2004
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 11:32am

My dad will have to let go of some people to pay his taxes, as I'm sure many small businesses will have to do. Many people will be out of a job. His plans just sound like Socialism to me.


"It's time to put the election behind us and the country in front of us. Barack Obama wasn't my choice, but come January 20th, he will be MY President.... I will not seek to see all

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-2008
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 11:36am

Obama and McCain both say the number is $18 billion, they agreed on that in the second debate. Perhaps some of that would still be spent but not all of it. Obama committed to cutting earmarks by half and agrees they are bad. Check out cagw.org, Citizens Against Government Waste.

Are you trying to say there is not wasteful government spending? Obama's going to fund a huge chunk of his plan but cutting out wasteful spending. I say cut out the waste and use that to fund the middle class if you want, don't raise my taxes because I am doing my part too. Now it's time for the government to do it's part.

Pennsylvania Mom
http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/

Pennsylvania Mom http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2008
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 11:38am

heavenly, even your own post noted there were more than $60 billion in earmarks.


Save just 4% of that, and you have your "billions saved".


All Obama is doing is pushing envy and class warfare.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2007
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 11:44am

Of course I'm not saying that there isn't wasteful spending in the government but I don't think anyone should pin their hopes on the idea that cutting out earmarks will save that much money. I guess what worries me is that McCain seems to imply that he can balance the budget and fund his plans by eliminating wasteful spending in the form of earmarks and as the information I've already posted points out, cutting out earmarks won't save as much as he claims.


Chrissy
mom to Aidan 8/21/03
Grayson Blaine 12/30/07

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