Not Joe the Plumber, but SAHM
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| 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/

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In every state employers provide employees plans that cover pre-existing conditions, this won't change.
Your employer isn't motivated to screw you over now, why would they suddenly want to screw you over when they have more plans to choose from. If their only goal was to save money they wouldn't offer you any coverage, or only a major medical plan.
Who has the money to sue a company for denying coverage? Being denied coverage is an issue both candidates would need to work on if they want all the uninsured to get insured. You wouldn't need to search for a plan in all 50 states. You could start with your state and if you find your state does not allow or offer coverage that you most need, you'd be able to look in a few other states that might.
http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/
>>>If the employer is primarily motivated by costs then they could very well choose a plan that may not be in the best interest of the employees. <<<<
Which is true today even, and would be true under Obama's plan.
http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/
There is a netting affect with the healthcare credit. Because I'd be taxed on my benefits at the highest marginal rate, I'd pay MORE tax. I'd get the SAME credit. So I'd benefit less than someone who's in a 15% or 25% tax bracket. See the table on McCain's site: http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/19ba2f1c-c03f-4ac2-8cd5-5cf2edb527cf.htm
I'd be treated the exact same as everyone else under Obama's higher education credit, except because I have 6 kids we'd benefit way more than the average middle class family. $96k. That's obscene. We had kids because we can afford them, we save for college because we can afford to. This is a bad use of the government's limited revenues.
http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/
You seem to be forgetting one detail. Right now employers can deduct as a business expense the contributions they make to a worker's health insurance premiums. Workers, though, are not taxed on the value of their employer's contribution. That "exclusion" provides a powerful tax incentive for work-based coverage. McCain would end that "exclusion" thus ending the tax incentive behind employers offering any insurance, let alone good insurance.
Chrissy
mom to Aidan 8/21/03
Grayson Blaine 12/30/07
Pennsylvania Mom
http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/
It's been discussed several times by various sources and I previously posted an article that mentions it. Here's the article again.
The Real Risk Of McCain's Health Plan
It's not the taxes -- it's the erosion of risk-sharing between the healthy and the sick.
by Ronald Brownstein
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008
Chrissy
mom to Aidan 8/21/03
Grayson Blaine 12/30/07
Well, I generally don't like over-involvement of the government in anything. I do think privatization might work, because there are lots of reputable companies out there that just manage money. I always think that when you have a specialist out there, they will do a better job than legislators, but I know many people would rather have the government do everything and will disagree.
Tax free health insurance is just a tax loophole. I don't understand why people who are so against tax loopholes don't see that.
Your benefits from your employer are part of one single compensation package. Really, they're all income. Instead of giving you cash compensation, which is taxed, some employers give you health insurance, which is not. They do get a deduction for providing it, and you do get to pay with pre-tax dollars. It seems like a win-win, right?
But the people who lose are the people whose employers don't offer health insurance as part of compensation, or people who are self-employed, etc. Basically, by making health insurance a tax-free benefit for everyone, the government allowed the insurance companies to drive up premiums. They made health insurance- what should be a basic thing- into a hot commodity.
If you open up the market, have more competitors, and have everyone on an equal level, the prices will go down. If everyone is only willing to pay a certain amount, and there are competitors out there who will meet that amount, everyone will dump the other ones.
Having the government buy health insurance won't drive down the price. Anytime the government gets involved things are more expensive and more inefficient. Been to
Right, but you could find a plan that didn't charge you separately if you had more options. Because they do exist.
No problem! It's very complicated. But yes, certain credits are refundable and certain ones are not refundable.
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