Tax calculators for life under Obama or McCain
Filed under: Tax
Could someone please come up with an online tax calculator that includes all of each of John McCain's and Barack Obama's tax proposals? I wrote a few weeks ago about how alchemytoday.com came up with a tax calculator using data from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. Yesterday the Obama campaign came out with a tax calculator on its own website showing how much your own taxes will be under his plan. I got a flurry of comments on the old post saying how Obama's tax calculator wasn't non-partisan. Um, yeah, I realize that. That's why I sent readers to this non-partisan tax calculator.
I still think we need a more comprehensive, non-partisan tax calculator that takes into account the various sources of income and deductions. (Though, the more complex a calculator is, the more it's like really doing your taxes and so unappealing.)
The comments people left were really telling though. Throwing around words like terrorist and Nazi, these commentators clearly would not use or trust any tax calculator. Many said just to go look at both Obama and McCain's websites. Which totally makes sense. Though what's amazing to me is that many of the people who leave these comments clearly haven't taken their own advice. I'm not sure what they're so afraid of.
John McCain doesn't have a tax calculator that I know of. I did find this spread sheet from Ted Frank of the American Enterprise Institute. He has a sample showing a trader who is making $280,000 doing better under McCain. Of course, that doesn't contradict the Obama calculator.
MCain doesn't seem to think he needs a tax calculator. Here's McCain's tax page. If McCain had a tax calculator, he'd probably let people put in all kinds of complex financial information, then no matter what their answers, his calculator would spit out the answer: Barack Obama is going to raise your taxes, my friend!
The idea of a tax calculator is that people deal with the actual facts of the written policy -- not just the campaign slogans and political stereotypes. Some Republicans have gotten so used to hearing Tax And Spend Liberal that they simply refuse to believe that a Democrat could cut taxes.
Obviously, I'm a Democrat. That doesn't mean I think all of the Obama tax and economic ideas are brilliant. I don't like letting people take money our of retirement plans early or letting them keep it in late because of this crisis. I don't think either plan does enough to balance the budget.
The most sensible objection to these calculators that I've seen is that they don't reflect political reality. A president can have any economic plan he wants, but Congress still has to pass the budget. We're not going to see either of these plans in whole. If McCain's elected I don't see Congress keeping capital gains taxes as low as they are now. Either of them will have to face up to a much slower, grimmer economy.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-16-2008 @ 6:42PM
rich noga said...
I made the mistake of clicking on the tax calculator and only got one side,
guess I will not make the same mistake and visit this site evever again
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10-16-2008 @ 7:09PM
Some common sense said...
amazingly the non-parisan calculator says I save $450.00 more then the "partisan" calculator
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10-16-2008 @ 9:17PM
Joe plumber said...
The republicans say the tax less well they don't here is a link to the truth:
http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm
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10-17-2008 @ 9:55AM
Bernadine said...
anyone who knows anything or even checked on it would have discovered that most states do not require a contractor license. When you want to buy a plumbing business you only need a QP which means a qualifying party. You mearly hire someone with a license. Some states do not require licensing as long as one jobs invoice does not go over a certain amount say 750.00 in my state. The media is a joke and no one does the research. The want to smear this man because they can. Joe you just keep keepen on and buy your business MCcain will lower the taxes.
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10-17-2008 @ 10:09AM
A. Mancin said...
To any of you who think NObama will not raise your taxes - just think of how far you can live on 250,000 in NY or CA and if you make anything over that, you will be hit hard. Why 250,000? It is just a figure, NObama picked out of the air and that moron, Biden, loves it. NObama wants more taxes and all of you had better believe it. Democrats have never, never been known to lower taxes and they are not going to start now. We need to keep the tax cuts already in place. The only reason NObama wants to raise taxes is to "spread the wealth around" as he admitted and that, my friends, is socialism!!!!! It will stifle anyone wanting to start a new business or anyone wanted to expand a business. It is a killer for our economy.
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10-17-2008 @ 10:11AM
Bernadine said...
anyone can assign their name as Joe the Plumber. So if you are Joe say something about plumbing and I will tell you if this is really Joe making this statement. I know a little something about plumbing so you better do your homework or your clock will be cleaned by a girl. Go ahead I am waiting.
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10-17-2008 @ 2:05PM
james said...
wake up folks !
remember what clinton done after running on tax cuts,after the election he backed out of the cuts by saying things were worse than he knew.
the president can not promise anything---the senate is the only ones that can do anything .so unless you are ready to give the president a new title ( king ) or DICTATOR,look at what the presidents job is before you vote.all those promises on both sides are just lip service to buy the votes of the folks who want a gift for their vote..
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10-17-2008 @ 1:16PM
Phil said...
I find it truly fascinating that anyone with half a brain would vote for a democrat.
The democratic party has been taken over at the decision level by radical self serving socialist who want to remove our freedoms.
They were very smart about this takeover as they worked hard to get access to our schools and colleges with forced liberal teaching.
They worked hard getting incompetent people in positions of authority who will follow the party line without question.
They worked hard allowing our borders to spew over with illegal aliens
They worked hard getting the union control.
We conservatives who hold true the values of the American Constitution and the word of God are under serious attack and we better pay attention to the fact that our freedom is under attack
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10-17-2008 @ 11:35AM
allan said...
Some of us had an Idea this was going to happen.Last year I sold my Co. that employed 850 employees, with all the insurance I had to pay,retirement. the full boat..
Imade a bundle of money moved it off shore and did not pay a lick of taxes. Bought a Beautiful home in Casa de Sol Spain.I know others that are in the same shape that are leaving until things get better. After all I am 51 years old and want to enjoy life. Go ahead and elect OBAMA I HOPE YOU DO. Some of you wanted to be COMMIES any way.
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10-17-2008 @ 12:49PM
RON D'E said...
ALLAN MAY HAVE HIT THE NAIL SQUARELY ON THE HEAD!SOCIALISM IS HERE AND COMUNISM IS NOT FAR BEHIND.
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10-17-2008 @ 12:16PM
Motormouth said...
I love when Republicans accuse Obama of being a socialist, when in fact, the definition of socialism is when banks are bailed out by the government.
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10-17-2008 @ 12:45PM
We'll Never Forget said...
How come nobody mentions that the 'bailout' was conceived by a DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS. It was the REPUBLICANS INSTITUTED CONTROLS SO THE DEMOCRATS COULDNT STEAL MORE OF YOUR MONEY!
10-17-2008 @ 12:32PM
Jim said...
For the people complaining about there only being one side, the arfticle says straight out that "McCain does not have a tax calculator that I know of."
But this is all talk. Bill Clinton promised a middle tax cut in 1992, but then said "oh, never mind" when he got into office. Things were "worse than he thought," although the country was already three quarters into a full recovery. Very odd that he didn't know that BEFORE being elected, since all data is public information.
So what we really want to know whether either of them can get their plan through Congress and with what degree of resolve will they do so.
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10-17-2008 @ 2:58PM
Dick Gassen said...
Here's an academic question perhaps somebody can answer: If we were to adopt a "flat" or "fair" tax policy (as most other advanced industrial societies have), would there be any need for all the disruptive partisan wrangling over who is (or isn't) going to raise (or lower) taxes, when, and on whom? I sometimes wonder if we're so staunchly committed to our anachronistic and corrupt tax polities (excuse me, IRS people, nothing personal) because there's a minority of powerful and influential people out there who have a vested interest in keeping the system broken.
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10-17-2008 @ 2:21PM
jason.herod said...
I'd like to talk about "drill baby drill", a slogan of the McCain Campaign.
I work for the power industry and have recently helped to expand the Meeker Substation in northwestern Colorado to provide power to electric heaters so that oil companies there can remove the oil from the shale with new technology. Oil Shale Exploration Corp. said they are already producing 4,000 barrels a day from the experimental plots lease to them by the government. And with the current price of oil this is most certainly... worth the effort.
It is reported that there is more oil in the Colorado-Utah-Wyoming area alone, then all of Saudi-Arabia. So that 3% tid bit from Obama at the debate was absolute malarkey.
There is also oil off the coast of Virginia, off the coast of Florida, in Alaska, and an estimated 10.3 billion barrels of oil off the coast of California, which is hurting badly for revenue at the moment.
So what is "drill baby drill" going to do for the American people?
*REMOVE US FROM OUR DEPENDANCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST* Is there a better benefit then this?
*CREATE MILLIONS OF JOBS* literally... millions. We will need people to provide power to the rigs, drill,transport the oil and people to refine the oil; literally millions of jobs.
*CREATE THOUSANDS OF NEW TAX PAYERS WHO ARE AT THE MOMENT DRAWING UNEMPLOYMENT*
*PAY OFF MILLIONS OF HOME LOANS* this is soooo important, I'm going to say it one more time. *PAY OFF MILLIONS OF HOME LOANS*
and
*LOWER THE PRICE OF FUEL*
If you think this is a bad idea then vote for Obama, he has repeatedly voted against off shore drilling.
People… please… adjusting taxes will not fix our economy, but instead, raising taxes on those that provide jobs is only going to make matters worse for us. We need jobs right now. We need John McCain.
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10-26-2008 @ 7:22PM
Charlie said...
Thank You, Jason for speaking the truth.
I can't believe this mess that we are setting ourselves up for. But I got to tell you, For years now we have been traveling down this path of self distruction. So, if you go to the Polls and you push that button, fill in that oval or electonic selection, I can guarantee you that will be a decision that you will remember for the rest of your life. I am not trying to scare you, but we left England for a reason, I think we have way surpassed that reason and now we are heading in a direction that we have never been. I do believe that change is good, but "Radical Change" not so much.
I just hope that we think, think, " Who is this guy anyway"?
All I hear are Words, no action, Nada "NOTHING"
God Bless America
10-17-2008 @ 3:18PM
Mike said...
So the socialist are trying to buy the American Dream from our citizens for a $1000.00 handout, so called "tax break". What ever happen to the work hard to get ahead spirit that made this country great. We have now come to the point that a majority of our people are welfare bums. We are doomed.
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10-17-2008 @ 4:00PM
Ben Brown said...
I first read about Voyant on WalletPop!
Voyant has a new tool to test your financial plan under each candidate. I've been playing with this all day:
McCain vs. Obama: How Could the Next President Affect Your Financial Plan?
http://www.planwithvoyant.com
Voyant: Which Candidate Can You Afford?
Really cool.
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10-17-2008 @ 4:11PM
Chris Davis said...
I liked Voyant's too. Seems mostly non-partisan, Tax Policy Center-based assumptions.
10-17-2008 @ 4:35PM
al said...
The Germans in 1941-1943 had a Process where they took COAL and made it into Avation Fuel so they could fly all their Aircraft on it because they did not have OIL, They produced 124,000 Barrel per-day. They flew the ME209 Twin Jet Fighter on this SYNTHEIC FUEL, it is also cleaner then JP4 which we use today, The United States has 28% of all COAL in the world ,enough to last for over 300 hundred years Why dont we use this process? We have Flown a Jet Bomber In Aug of this year the MEDIA will not tell you, Why?? The congress canot get their hands on EAR MARKS to line their own POCKETS thats why it will not come to the floor of the House. Dodd and Barney want some or this just like they got from Fredie and Fannit...
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