Obama To Plumber: Spread the Wealth, i.e. Redistribution of Wealth Equals Socialism

Barack Obama told a tax-burdened plumber over the weekend that his economic philosophy is to “spread the wealth around.”

HEY BARACK, THAT IS TOTALLY UNPATRIOTIC!!

Obama is a “socialist.” I have said it before.

Obama made the remark, caught on camera, after fielding some tough questions from the plumber Sunday in Ohio, where the Democratic candidate canvassed neighborhoods and encouraged residents to vote early.

“Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn’t it?” the plumber asked, complaining that he was being taxed “more and more for fulfilling the American dream.”

“It’s not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success too,” Obama responded. “My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody … I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

Tell the truth, it is called redistribution of wealth. IT IS PUNISHMENT. What, do you think a plumber won’t understand?

Obama says he will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.

Patterico on the 95% tax cut illusion:

The Wall Street Journal analyzes Barack Obama’s promise to cut taxes for 95% of Americans: Obama redefines tax cuts as tax credits and that results in a massive redistribution of taxpayer money.

These are income transfers intended to redistribute money from one American to another.

Thus, under Obama’s tax plan, millions of Americans will get government payments in excess of what they pay in taxes, making this a massive redistribution of income far beyond what welfare ever paid:

“The Tax Foundation estimates that under the Obama plan 63 million Americans, or 44% of all tax filers, would have no income tax liability and most of those would get a check from the IRS each year. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis estimates that by 2011, under the Obama plan, an additional 10 million filers would pay zero taxes while cashing checks from the IRS.

The total annual expenditures on refundable “tax credits” would rise over the next 10 years by $647 billion to $1.054 trillion, according to the Tax Policy Center. This means that the tax-credit welfare state would soon cost four times actual cash welfare. By redefining such income payments as “tax credits,” the Obama campaign also redefines them away as a tax share of GDP. Presto, the federal tax burden looks much smaller than it really is.

The political left defends “refundability” on grounds that these payments help to offset the payroll tax. And that was at least plausible when the only major refundable credit was the earned-income tax credit. Taken together, however, these tax credit payments would exceed payroll levies for most low-income workers.“

As Michelle says, “Crap Sandwiches: It’s what’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

Obama and McCain Tax Proposals Raise Marginal Tax Rates for Many Middle-Income Taxpayers

According to a new report from the Tax Foundation, marginal tax rates will rise to over 50 percent on some middle-income families if Sen. Obama’s tax plan becomes law, and over 40 percent under Senator McCain’s plan.

The report is Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 150, “How Do the Presidential Candidates’ Tax Plans Affect Taxpayers’ Marginal Tax Rates?” by Robert Carroll, Ph.D., vice president for economic policy at the foundation. Carroll illustrates his point with a family of four—two working adults with two children—and explains the economic importance of “marginal” tax rates and why they can differ dramatically from statutory tax rates.

“Senator Obama’s new and expanded tax credits for low-income taxpayers will certainly cut taxes for low-income people,” explains Carroll, “but the credits are mostly recaptured from middle-income taxpayers. During this phase-out range, marginal tax rates shoot up, causing economically damaging side effects. As a result, for example, a family of four in the $30,000-to-$43,000 range would discover that for every additional dollar they earn, they pay more than 50 cents in income tax.”

Read the new Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact.
Click here for more analysis of the presidential candidates’ tax plans, and here to compare specific provisions of the tax plans of McCain, Obama, Barr (Libertarian Party), Baldwin (Constitution Party), McKinney (Green Party), and Nader (independent).