Myth Vs. Fact: The Obama Infomercial Lies To Taxpayers About Obama Tax Hike

And the hits just keep on coming! Americans For Tax Reform have found a few "easter eggs" in the 30 minute Barack Obama Infomercial too. Let's see what they have to say:

Myth: “As president, here’s what I’ll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the US over the next two years, and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.” Fact: According to IRS data, 33% of families don’t even have an income tax liability, so it’s impossible to cut their income taxes. Also, Obama’s summary conveniently leaves out the fact that he would bring the small business tax rate to over 50 percent and would hike the capital gains and dividends tax at a time of market turmoil. His plan is a massive tax hike.

And somewhere in there, Obama and his followers have somehow convinced themselves that taking even more money out of the American economy is going to lead to some sort of prosperity. It won't. It will lead to an even worse economic downturn, just as Jimmy Carter's misguided economic policies did from 1977 onward.

Myth: (OH Gov. Ted Strickland speaking): “Think of this. Barack Obama is going to be a Democrat in the presidency who actually cuts taxes. But he’s gonna cut taxes for the people who really need a tax cut. He’s gonna cut taxes for the struggling families. And he’s gonna do that while holding accountable those companies that take advantage of tax breaks in order to send jobs offshore and to other countries.” Fact: Obama will raise taxes by over $1 trillion by hiking the small business tax rates, the Social Security tax rate, and the nest egg tax rates on capital gains and dividends. Also, the reason companies move overseas is because our taxes are already too high. How does raising their taxes do anything but make this problem worse?

Many workers (myself included) already lost money in our 401k accounts because of the recent crisis on Wall Street. Taxing our retirement accounts is only going to make that problem worse and devalue our 401k's even further. It will certainly encourage me to move my money off-shore where the socialists won't be able to get to it.

Myth: (VA Gov. Tim Kaine) “Barack has looked at the small business side of the American economy and says ‘Look, that’s where most innovation and entrepreneurship is. Let’s give them the rocket fuel to really accelerate rather than giving tax cuts to the ExxonMobils or the big oil companies that need not one ounce of help from the government to be very successful.’” Fact: Under Obama’s tax hike, the tax rate on two-thirds of small business profits will exceed 50 percent for the first time since Jimmy Carter. If that’s rocket fuel, the U.S. economy won’t ever get off the launch pad. Also, raising taxes on energy companies won’t do anything except make energy more expensive for consumers.

Here is another economic fact that simply isn't registering with the Democrats. Taxes get passed on to consumer in the form of a higher price for the product or service. Higher taxes mean even higher prices. So, if the socialists raise taxes on companies that produce energy, the price we consumers pay is also going to go up.

Myth: “I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost” Fact: We can’t say it any better than the AP: “Obama's assertion that "I've offered spending cuts above and beyond" the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by ‘eliminating programs that don't work’ masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are—beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.”

And that's true. Apart from cuts in defense spending, I can't think of anything Obama has promised to cut. Certainly not any bottomless pit social programs.

Myth: “So I’m not worried about CEO’s, I’m not worried about corporate lobbyists, I’m not worried about the drug companies or the oil companies or the insurance companies--they’ll be fine, they’re going to look out for themselves. I’m worried about the couple that’s trying to figure out how they’re going to retire. I’m worried about the family that’s trying to figure out how they can save for their child’s college education. I’m worried about the single mom that doesn’t have health insurance. I’m worried about the guy who has worked in a plant for 20 years and suddenly sees his job shipped overseas. That’s who I’m worried about. That’s who I’m going to be fighting for and thinking about every single day that I’m in the White House.” Fact: If he’s worried about the couple about to retire, Obama should be asking himself why he wants to tank their 401(k) nest egg by raising capital gains and dividends taxes. If he’s worried about the parents saving for college or struggling to afford health insurance, he should ask himself if raising their small business employer’s tax rate to over 50 percent is a good idea. If he’s worried about the longtime employee’s job getting shipped overseas, he should ask if the fact that America has the second-highest corporate income tax rate in the world has anything to do with that.

Anyone who has a retirement savings account should be concerned at this point. Money that you worked for, that you put away so that in your autumn years you could live comfortably, is going to be confiscated for Barack Obama's efforts at "redistributing the wealth" a la European socialist style.

You can access the complete article on-line here:

Myth vs. Fact: The Obama Infomercial Lies to Taxpayers About Obama Tax Hike
Americans For Tax Reform
October 30, 2008

Reality Check From CBS: Obama's Infomercial Didn't Discuss The True Cost Of His Presidency

First the Associated Press and now CBS is finding fault with Obama's claims from last night's 30-minute ad. In a nutshell, Wyatt Andrews shows us that it will not be possible for Obama to keep his campaign promises (just like Bill Clinton was unable to keep his) when it came to budgets, new spending and taxes.

From the article:

Let's start with his highly suspect, and widely discredited, claim that he can find federal "spending cuts beyond the costs" of his promises. Very few independent economists believe he has identified the savings needed to offset his remarkable list of tax credits, tax cuts and spending pledges. Fact: Even if you believe Obama intends to fix health care, most independent analysts say the cost is massive - $1.2 trillion over ten years, according to the highly respected Lewin Group. When the new Congress wakes up next year to a $1 trillion deficit, and answers the overwhelming new demands for another stimulus package, will the leadership really bite on a health care reform package that digs the deficit hole so much deeper?

And this:

Fact: The tax cuts he promises, which are mostly refundable tax credits (code for cash back), will cost $60 billion just in year one, according the National Taxpayers Union, though the Obama campaign's own estimates in July put that figure at $130 billion.

But what a great time to be a worker who owes no taxes! You get a check for not paying taxes at all! Wealth redistribution, here we come!

And this:

Fact: His new promise to give businesses a $3,000 tax credit for each new job created will cost $40 billion. But economists say this credit is far more likely to benefit companies already planning to expand and will likely not be enough to help companies create new jobs or forestall layoffs.

Yep. That wealth redistribution check isn't going to mean much to the workers who will lose their jobs because their employers are getting over-taxed.

Fact: Obama's claim he will lower health care premiums by $2,500 is: 1.) guesswork, which is 2.) based on health care savings that might, in a perfect world, happen over 10 years - a fact Obama neatly glosses over.

And we already know what happened in Canada and Great Britain with their versions of socialized medicine.

Most of the time he spends the Iraq savings in the context of the roads he wants to build; sometimes it's for the teachers he wants to hire. Tonight, he riffed rhetorically on the savings, asking how many scholarships could be funded, or how many schools could be built. In the end though, presuming he really saves $90 billion, he can only spend it once. Remember he also mentioned rebuilding the military ($7 billion/yr); his education initiative ($18 billion/yr); and his energy initiative ($15 billion/yr). He did not mention the $188 billion that he would spend on the brand new stimulus package he has proposed. If he closes every loophole as promised, saves every dime from Iraq, raises taxes on the rich and trims the federal budget as he's promised to do "line by line," he still doesn't pay for his list. If he's elected, the first fact hitting his desk will be the figure projecting how much less of a budget he has to work with - thanks to the recession. He gave us a very compelling vision with his ad buy tonight. What he did not give us was any hint of the cold reality he's facing or a sense of how he might prioritize his promises if voters trust him with the White House.

Awesome article!

You can access the complete article on-line here:

Reality Check: The Cost Of Obama's Pledges
Wyatt Andrews
CBS News
October 29, 2008

Associated Press Rips Obama's Infomercial, Ad Skips Over Budget Realities

Now, the Associated Press is not what anyone would call a bastion of right-wing philosophy. In fact, it is a very leftist organization. That is why it is fairly big news when such an organization takes a leftist candidate for president to task over statements made during a half-hour long infomercial.

Calvin Woodward looks into a few of Barack Obama's claims and separates the fiction from the fact. From his article:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office. Obama's assertion that "I've offered spending cuts above and beyond" the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by "eliminating programs that don't work" masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are - beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Just like John Kerry, who claimed he had a plan, but refused to reveal that plan to the American people. Here are some examples of what Obama claimed versus the truth:

THE SPIN: "That's why my health care plan includes improving information technology, requires coverage for preventive care and pre-existing conditions and lowers health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year." THE FACTS: His plan does not lower premiums by $2,500, or any set amount. Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs, among other steps, consumers will end up saving money. He uses an optimistic analysis to suggest cost reductions in national health care spending could amount to the equivalent of $2,500 for a family of four. Many economists are skeptical those savings can be achieved, but even if they are, it's not a certainty that every dollar would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower premiums.

This same system has been tried in Canada and Great Britain and each time were colossal failures. Even the Canucks and Brits admit that they don't have universal health care but rather that they have rationed health care. The quality of their care is now among the lowest in the industrialized world.

Obama's socialized health care plan is analyzed here:

Barack Obama Proposes A Disastrous Socialized Health Care System
84rules
June 18, 2008

And that plan would be rife with fraud:

Medicare Rife With Fraud: The Dems Model For Socialized Medicine
84rules
August 26, 2008

THE SPIN: "Here's what I'll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages, by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9-11, we'll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open. " THE FACTS: His proposals - the tax cuts, the low-cost loans, the $15 billion a year he promises for alternative energy, and more - cost money, and the country could be facing a record $1 trillion deficit next year. Indeed, Obama recently acknowledged - although not in his commercial - that: "The next president will have to scale back his agenda and some of his proposals."

Just a short while ago, it was a tax cut for working families making less than $250,000 per year. Joe Biden has put that figure at $150,000 per year. But history shows us that it is a campaign promise that he cannot keep. Bill Clinton promised no new taxes for anyone making less than $90,000 per year in 1992. The reality was that in order to fund his spending porgrams, people making as little as $30,000 per year were gouged for more taxes. Barack Obama would find the same problem in keeping his promise of a lower threshold. Economists from several different institutions have worked the numbers out and have predicted that families making $45,000 per year will have more taxes taken from their paychecks.

Small businesses won't do any better under Obama:

Obamanomics Is A Recipe For Recession
84rules
July 30, 2008

You can access the complete article on-line here:

Obama's Prime-Time Ad Skips Over Budget Realities
Calvin Woodward
Associated Press via My Way News
October 29, 2008