Taking the Debate to… Myspace? Seriously?

Sunday, September 28th, 2008

A friend of a friend, not pleased with the number of Obama fans on said friend’s Myspace page, decided to post a link to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Hmm, what do you think they’d have to say about Obama’s tax plan? Something, non-partisan, perhaps? Right. Anyway, I was in a writing mood and so left this comment in response:

Question: do any of you make over $600,000? No? Then you’re going to get a few hundred bucks at best under McCain’s tax plan, all of which will be very likely swallowed up under his health care plan* and at least a thousand bucks under Obama’s. Plus, your payroll taxes will get a cut. (Quarter-millionaires, take note: They would increase for those making over $250,000.)

Look, McCain can cut out all the pork he wants, it’s still not going to make up for the the $300 billion decrease in tax revenue the federal government will have to deal with under his plan. What about those earmarks McCain is so fond of bringing up? That’s $18 billion a year. Of the $2.9 trillion we’re spending on our budget for 2008, about $1 trillion is not mandatory spending, and includes stuff like the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, NASA, the Department of Education, and energy spending. In other words, we’re not going to find $300 billion of needless spending no matter how hard we look.

Also, this:

* About that McCain Healthcare Plan

The plan encourages individuals to leave their employer-subsidized health insurance plans to go it alone by offering a $2500 rebate to individuals who do so ($5000 for families) and penalizes those who stick with their employer-subsidized plans by treating the portion their employer pays as taxable income, thereby… wait for it… swallowing your tax cut and increasing your taxes on the down-low.

Furthermore, the plan forces state governments to deal with anyone who is denied healthcare, thereby allowing insurers to deal with a low-risk (and low-cost) pool, while forcing states to come up with some kind of expensive government-subsidized healthcare for the high-risk pool, which will mean… wait for it… increased taxes! Oh, wait, you think the health insurers will pass on their savings to you? Has anyone ever passed on their savings to you? Of course not.