Let me start off by saying that I feel that I’ve made it clear before, but I’m going to say it again. With facts (updated to add that I’ve tried to use non-partisan websites/references). With back up.  Why I’m voting FOR Barack Obama.

Because my last post was taken completely out of context (in the comments) and I think that people who disagree with me politically missed the point.  So now I’m even more frustrated with the amount of mis-information floating around, and I’m tired of people falling back on labeling Liberals as “complainers” and implying we “blame everyone else for what’s wrong in our life.”  Apparently a lot of you are un (or mis) informed about what Barack Obama is REALLY proposing, I’ll lay it out for you here.  Taxes, health care, small business, etc…

You’re welcome to disagree. That’s what America is all about.

And I hope you’ve got a cup of coffee or tea in front of you, because this is going to be a long one.

TAXES:

(table copied from this article)

BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS
Here’s how the average tax bill could change in 2009 if either John McCain’s or Barack Obama’s tax proposals were fully in place.


MCCAIN OBAMA
Income Avg. tax bill Avg. tax bill
Over $2.9M -$269,364 +$701,885
$603K and up -$45,361 +$115,974
$227K-$603K -$7,871 +$12
$161K-$227K -$4,380 -$2,789
$112K-$161K -$2,614 -$2,204
$66K-$112K -$1,009 -$1,290
$38K-$66K -$319 -$1,042
$19K-$38K -$113 -$892
Under $19K -$19 -$567
Source:The Tax Policy Center
Obama’s plan: $3.5 trillion increase in National Debt by 2018
McCain’s plan: $5 trillion increase in National Debt by 2018

Health Care:

This is from Barack Obama’s Plan for a Healthy America:
  • Employer Contribution: Employers that do not offer or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the national plan. Small businesses will be exempt from this requirement, and will receive a new Small Business Health Tax Credit that helps reduce health care costs for small businesses.
  • Support for Small Businesses: Barack Obama will create a Small Business Health Tax Credit to provide small businesses with a refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees. This new credit will provide a strong incentive to small businesses to offer high quality health care to their workers and help improve the competitiveness of America’s small businesses.

Small Business:

As Factcheck.org has pointed out, McCain’s claim that Obama would raise taxes rates for 23 million small businesses owners is completely unfounded.

Corporate Taxes (from this article):
McCain wants to reduce the corporate income taxes to 25 percent from the 35 percent rate effectively paid by large corporations.
But corporations with taxable incomes under $75,000 already pay a 25 percent rate and those with taxable income under $50,000 pay 15 percent.
George Plesko, a professor of accounting at the University of Connecticut, said his analysis of Internal Revenue Service data indicates a minority of corporations are subject to the 35 percent rate.
In fact, many small business corporations may not pay any corporate taxes. In 2003, just more than 1.8 million corporations filed a Form 1120A with the IRS to report income below $500,000 and only half of them – 902,015 – had a positive net income subject to the corporate tax rate.
Obama has not made a specific proposal for lowering the corporate tax rate, but has indicated he would consider cutting the top rate during a larger overhaul of corporate taxes that eliminates the tax breaks given to companies that move operations overseas.
~Everything below, unless noted, is from Obama’s Blueprint for Change. In the interest of brevity (HA!) I didn’t include the details.  You can go read them yourselves if you have question~

Reproductive Choice

Obama has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving a women’s right to choose under Roe v. Wade a priority as president.  Obama also supports expanded access to contraception, health information and preventive services to reduce unintended pregnancies.

Reducing Unintended Pregnancy:
Obama will work to reduce unintended pregnancy by guaranteeing equity in contraceptive coverage, providing sex education, and offering rape victims accurate information about emergency contraception.

Immigration:

Reform the Immigration System:

Obama believes we must fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.
Remove Incentives to Enter Illegally:
Obama will remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.

Bring People Out of the Shadows:
Obama supports a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.

Poverty:

Make Work Pay for All Americans:
Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit:  Obama will increase the number of working parents eligible for

EITC benefits, increase the benefits available to parents who support their children through child support payments, increase benefts for families with three or more children, and reduce the EITC marriage penalty which hurts low-income families.
Create a Living Wage:  Obama will raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation to make sure that full time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as
food, transportation, and housing.
Provide Tax Relief:  Obama will provide all low and middle-income workers a $500 Making Work Pay tax credit to offset the payroll tax those workers pay in every paycheck.  Obama will also eliminate taxes for seniors making under $50,000 per year.

Iraq War/Terrorism/Rogue Nations/Nuclear Weapons:

The War in Iraq:
Obama is the only major candidate who had the judgment to oppose the Iraq War from the beginning. He will end the war responsibly by bringing our troops home within 16 months, pressing for a political solution to Iraq’s civil war, and launching the diplomatic and humanitarian initiatives that are needed to bring
stability to Iraq.
Terrorism:
Obama will fght terrorism and protect America with a comprehensive strategy that fnishes the fight in Afghanistan, cracks down on the al Qaeda safe-haven in Pakistan, develops new capabilities and international partnerships, engages the world to dry up support for extremism, and reaffirms American values.
Iran:
Obama has stood up against going to war with Iran, and called for a new approach. He will lead tough diplomacy with the Iranian regime, and ofer Iran the choice of increased international pressure or
incentives if it stops its disturbing behavior.
Renewing American Diplomacy:
Obama will turn the page on the Bush-Cheney diplomacy of not talking to countries that we don’t like. He will talk to our foes as well as our friends, and he will restore American leadership and alliances abroad.

Nuclear Weapons:
Obama has a bold agenda to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation. He will secure loose nuclear materials from terrorists, and lead the world toward the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons.

21st Century Military:
Obama will give the fnest military in the world the support it needs to face the threats of the 21st century. He will expand our ground forces, develop new capabilities, and restore the trust between the commander in
chief and those who serve.

Fiscal

Restore Fiscal Discipline to Washington:
Reinstate PAYGO Rules:  Obama believes that a critical step in restoring fscal discipline is enforcing pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budgeting rules which require new spending commitments or tax changes to be paid for by
cuts to other programs or new revenue.

Reverse Bush Tax Cuts for the Wealthy: Obama will protect tax cuts for poor and middle class families, but he will reverse most of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest taxpayers.

Cut Pork Barrel Spending:  Obama introduced and passed bipartisan legislation that would require more disclosure and transparency for special-interest earmarks.  Obama believes that spending that cannot withstand
public scrutiny cannot be justifed.  Obama will slash earmarks to no greater than what they were in 2001 and ensure all spending decisions are open to the public.

Make Government Spending More Accountable and Efcient:  Obama will ensure that federal contracts over $25,000 are competitively bid.  Obama will also increase the efciency of government programs through better use of technology, stronger management that demands accountability and by leveraging the government’s high-volume purchasing power to get lower prices.

End Wasteful Government Spending:  Obama will stop funding wasteful, obsolete federal government programs that make no financial sense.  Obama has called for an end to subsidies for oil and gas companies that are enjoying record profits, as well as the elimination of subsidies to the private student loan industry which has repeatedly used unethical business practices.  Obama will also tackle wasteful spending in the Medicare program.

Make the Tax System More Fair and Effcient
End Tax Haven Abuse:  Building on his bipartisan work in the Senate, Obama will give the Treasury Department the tools it needs to stop the abuse of tax shelters and ofshore tax havens and help close the $350
billion tax gap between taxes owed and taxes paid.

Close Special Interest Corporate Loopholes:  Obama will level the playing feld for all businesses by eliminating special-interest loopholes and deductions, such as those for the oil and gas industry.

Education:

High-Quality Zero to Five Early Education:
Obama will launch a Children’s First Agenda that provides care, learning and support to families with children from birth up to fve years old.

Reform No Child Left Behind:
Obama believes that the goal of No Child Left Behind was the right one, but that it was written and implemented poorly and it has demoralized our educators and broken its promise to our children. Obama
will fund No Child Left Behind and improve its assessments and accountability systems.

Improve K-12:
Obama will improve our schools by recruiting well-qualifed teachers to every classroom in America.  Obama will improve teacher compensation by rewarding expert, accomplished teachers for taking on challenging
assignments and helping teachers succeed.  Obama also will reduce the high school dropout rate and close the achievement gap by investing in proven intervention strategies in the middle grades and in summer
learning and afterschool opportunities.

Make Community College and College Education Affordable:
Obama will create a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that will make tuition at the nation’s community colleges completely free and will cover up to two-thirds the cost of tuition at the nation’s public colleges and
universities.  This $4,000 tax credit will be fully refundable and available at the time of enrollment in college – when families need the money.

Energy:

Tackle Climate Change: Obama will implement a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level recommended by top scientists.

Create Millions of Green Jobs: Obama will invest $150 billion over ten years to deploy clean technologies, protect our existing manufacturing base and create millions of new jobs.

Reduce Dependence on Foreign Oil: Obama will reduce oil consumption overall by at least 35 percent, or 10 million barrels of oil, by 2030

More Reasons I’m Voting for Barack Obama:

(Taken from On The Issues)

  • Proponent of Stem Cell Research
  • Support Gay Rights (although he opposes Gay Marriage, which is a negative against him in my book)
  • Supports the Death Penalty
  • Supports a ban of semi-automatic weapons
  • Favors separation of Church & State

~~~~~
And there you have it. Agree or disagree. It doesn’t matter to me. You’re entitled to your opinion, as I’m entitled to mine. If you’re going to comment, I ask that you don’t levy any personal attacks, and stay away from the usual rhetoric. It’s not getting us anywhere. And I’d like to point out that my ONLY mention of the other candidate was so that I could compare their tax plans.

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