All he talks about is taxing the wealthy. My family is middle class and already over 50% of my dads salary goes to taxes. If Obama wins the election my family is going to have to make a lot of cutbacks.
McCain believes that
middle class makes $5 million in their yearly salary.
$5 million! My dad doesn't even make that in a year and he is middle class.
Obviously, your family is not like many other American families going though a crisis right now. My family had to cut back even affording dinner because we didn't have enough money. You think you have a problem cutting back? Try not being able to afford food, gas or not being able to see your friends and family.
My step-mother is pregnant, my dad has a gallstone, and I need to go to the dentist because I have a disease that makes me have to get check-ups every three months. You know what? We can't even afford
health care to get checked up. Without insurance, it would take $1,000 for my step-mom to get checked up. And you say "we'll have to make a lot cutbacks?" Well get used to it because most American's do.
Wow, $5 million? I wish my dad made that much. With the financial crisis we're already making cutbacks. Why? Because my dad's works in New York City, in the financial district. People are being fired left and right, the only reason my dad and his team haven't been yet is because his major client is Morgen Stanley (one of the very very few major banks that hasn't demolished yet.) Basically if Morgen Stanley goes my dad is unemployed.
And I know what you talking about with major cutbacks. That was my life in 4th and 5th grade, the only reason we didn't loose our house is because my parents had put every extra penny we had into savings before Sept 11th happened (which shut down my dad's company). I didn't get a birthday present and when I got stitches on my chin and knee after falling off my bike my grandparents had to pay for it.
But that's getting way off topic. Anyways the democrats keep making it look like "Oh those big bad evil wealthy people. They're keeping it all to themselves," even though they give a much higher percentage of their salary to federal taxes. My mom showed me something that pretty much explains the whole thing in easier terms.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay > our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.
But what about the other six men - the paying customers?
How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings)
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant the men began to compare their savings.
'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'
'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'
'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two?
The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
Smart man, he actually made me understand the whole taxes thing. Sorry for the deathly long post. XD