Sen. Barack Obama's campaign on Thursday spelled out the details of the Democratic presidential candidate’s tax plan on his website and in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal.
I just wanted to note the basic proposals for capital gains and dividend tax rates here:
--- Families with incomes below $250,000 would pay current capital gains rates (a maximum tax of 15% on gains on assets held more than one year). Those earning more than $250,000 would face an increase -- a top rate of 20%.
--- The top dividend tax rate would remain the current 15% for those earning less than $250,000, but would rise to 20% for those earning above that threshold.
--- For single people, the tax increases above would apply to those earning more than $200,000.
The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, has endorsed keeping President Bush’s current tax rates as they are.
I have no personal animus towards any poster on this blog, however, I consider 'maggie's' remarks an absolute affront, an insult if you will, to any thinking reader of this blog.
To begin, less than 3% of Americans have incomes of $250,000 or more per year. By the relative standards of most Americans, maggie IS rich. Of course, by maggie's standards, compared to the one-hundredth of 1 percent of the population whose 2005 income averaged $29,700,000, maggie is struggling. Pity, but nobody ever said life is fair.
Though $60K in mortgage payments and about $30K in tuition sounds outrageous to average Americans, a great deal of these amounts are deductible, are they not? And aren't these payments of choice? It would seem to me for this kind of dough a family could live in, say, Pasadena, Glendale or hundreds of other highly suitable locations in LA County besides the West side, and construct a veritable fortress "merely for safety reasons." As to taxes, I can only imagine that she refers to ad valorem taxes which, considering rates in other states, is a flat out bargain. And her insurance is high because she has more expensive things, which her income affords, to insure.
Maggie, I know, with only perhaps $5K to $10K of monthly discretionary income, things are tough. But things are tough for the 133 million or so households with incomes less than 1/5th of yours. But, what the hell, they can always eat cake.
Folks in "high rent areas" (read: LA NY, etc.) making 250,000 (pre-tax) per year are far from rich. In LA, merely for safety reasons, a family will need to shell out well over $5,000 per month in mortgage payments. Our property and city taxes are exhorbitant. We pay higher insurance premiums than folks elsewhere. And, if you want your kids to know how to read and write before they hit college, a private school tuition will set you back way more than what our parents paid for college tuition. Rich we're not . Just working 24/7 to live a slice of the American dream. BHO just doesn't get it.