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/

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-12-2008
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 5:39pm

"We aren't hoarding our money under the mattress, we spend it and we invest it and that helps our economy much more than welfare for the middle class will, IMHO."

Alas, my PhD is not in macroeconomics, so I honestly can't say which is better in the long term, and even if my PhD was in macroeconomics I'm not sure I would know because I believe that economists are in disagreement on it. Because of that, I think both candidates are holding on to a hope and a prayer that their plan would do the trick. Unfortunately, there is no policy in the world that would be in EVERY American's best interests. Its just not possible, which is why its great that we each get a vote.

That's interesting about Canada's tax structure. I think that in the next few years, our government will be looking a lot to Canada and to the European countries for some inspiration.




Photobucket


siggy aug 09
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-12-2008
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 6:15pm

Not all poor people are lazy and looking to milk the system, and not all wealthy people are hard-working. I don't agree that people simply get what they earn because there are just too many counterexamples: there are some people who have a lot but didn't earn it at all; there are plenty of people who have a lot and work hard but are in an industry that is higher earning than another; and there are plenty of people working very hard and not getting remotely what they deserve (e.g., schoolteachers). Our economic system is like a complex ecosystem where we need people to fill different niches in order for us to succeed as a whole. So on one hand, we do want to have competition and some level of "survival of the fittest," but we also want the different niches in our economic system to be filled, and ideally for people in all niches to be able to, at the minimum, support themselves and their kids with food, clothing, shelter, health care, and education. When people can't get those basic needs met despite working their butts off in "The American Way", they will become resentful, and can you really blame them?

Communism was a failed experiment and I don't think anyone is suggesting that we repeat it. But other countries are figuring out ways to accomplish these goals, why shouldn't we be trying too?

Photobucket


siggy aug 09
Avatar for litlpixy
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-06-2004
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 7:22pm

Oh let me tell you about government waste! There are housing units on CLOSED military installations around the world that are

"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

Avatar for mommastacie
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 8:27pm
ITA! I was stationed up at KI Sawyer for its last year & 1/2 of existence. The Gym had not yet started being built when they added it to the closure list but b/c of the contract they had to allow the construction. It was completed before the base closed and I have to say it was the most state of the art AWESOME gym with indoor olympic sized pool I have ever seen. Now, the base is a low-income housing community and they get to use the gym. :o) At least people are using it I guess instead of letting it sit empty. OH and we can't forget (since I worked Supply) the $5 AA battery. $5 for ONE AA BATTERY. O.O The military is well known for wasteful spending.


Edited 10/16/2008 8:28 pm ET by mommastacie


border=0>


Other places you can find me:

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-09-2008
Thu, 10-16-2008 - 11:57pm

<>

I completely agree with you.

You must be very proud of your daughter. I've been lucky enough to meet some wonderful children and young adults with disabilities over the years, we can all learn a lot from them about life, determination and what's really important.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-10-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 1:30am
Thanks for sharing your letter with us.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 3:06pm
AMT is a separate part of the tax code where by you calculate your taxes a second time with no deductions and a lower tax rate (26% or 28%). It only applies to certain middle class, upper middle and upper class taxpayers. You pay the higher of the two calculated tax liabilities. It ensures that certain tax payers pay enough tax, that deductions and credits don't give them too huge of a benefit.
Pennsylvania Mom http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-05-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 3:19pm

Thanks - I

Photobucket
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-07-2003
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 4:28pm

I understand your concern. I don't see any evaluation of how you would fare under McCain, why is that?

I am not someone who votes on just one issue. I am someone who detests our current president and yet I have paid dearly over these past few years, usually under the AMT, all of it to support a government I loathe and a war I consider illegal. One easy thing that could have been done is raise the income limits for AMT and that would help many people.

We have one high income, two businesses, stock options, capital gains and many items which tend to trigger AMT as we live in a high tax state, MA. Our wage income is from NY so we also pay tax there. I have to say none of this makes me want to vote for McCain over Obama but I have larger concerns than merely my own tax liability. The way the economy is I doubt gains will be a problem so maybe my income will go down enough that I will owe less. I know we took steps to minimize the impact of the AMT and to better time income and deductions. We set up a charitable foundation. The current administration has been so irresponsible in their stewardship of the economy that we now have an enormous deficit, a 10 billion a month war, and an insistence on tax cuts that are not paid for by spending cuts. All of this has compelled me to take a serious look at this election.

I was not an Obama supporter. But I did support a democrat, HRC. I cannot in good conscience vote for a Republican even though I had previously liked McCain. After his VP pick I felt he was not serious about this election. There are huge problems and we need serious people to solve them. I don't care about being a mavericky joe sixpack type. I care about serious solutions to serious problems.

I understand there are voters like you who only look at the election in terms of their own tax return. I'm not going to argue about how much tax you'd pay under either. A good tax planner can probably help you maximize what you owe.

But I would hope that you will at least fully explore both tax plans if this is the single issue you are truly basing your vote on. I haven't done that as I've already made up my mind on the basis of the larger issues and the future I want to leave to my children. I'm going to be paying taxes regardless of who's president and I don't see any way I'm going to be paying a lot less given the state the country is in due to 8 years of Republican rule.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2004
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 5:22pm

Living like I do in my small 3bdrm 2 bath 2 car garage home in North, AL, driving my 98 4cylinder chevy cavalier and 98 6cylinder Chevy Venture....who each have 150,000 plus miles on them.

Photobucket

Pages