Governor Palin Was Right about Obama and Taxes

In Governor Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention nearly a year and a half ago, she spoke of then Senator Obama's stance on taxes:

The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes ... raise payroll taxes ... raise investment income taxes ... raise the death tax ... raise business taxes ... and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars.

Income Taxes: The Senate health care reform bill , if passed,will charge a surtax greater than 5% on wealthy individuals and would tax individuals who fail to acquire health insurance coverage. The Obama administration has also conceded that if "cap and tax" legislation is passed, it will be equivalent to raising income taxes on American families by 15%.

Payroll Taxes: The Senate health care reform bill, if passed, will also increase the Medicare payroll tax on high income earners.

Investment Income Taxes: President Obama's Fiscal Year 2010 budget included higher taxes on investments (i.e. capital gains) for those making over $200,000 and included an increase in capital gains taxes on the wealthy by $118 billion over 10 years.

Death Taxes: In December the House voted to extend the 45% Estate (or Death or Inheritance) Tax on land worth more than $3.5 million. While this may seem to be a tax that only falls on the wealthy, this also falls on family members of farm owners whose loved ones have passed away. It doesn't take much for farmland acreage price to equal $3.5 million. This leaves heirs to deal with the loss of the loved one, taxes, and the decision of what to do with the newly received land.

Businesses Taxes: President Obama's first budget increases taxes on businesses by $353 billion over ten years. Additionally, cap and tax legislation is essentially a tax on energy-consuming businesses as they will have to purchase carbon credits.

Also, Candidate Obama promised to not increase taxes on those earning less than $250,000. However, if passed, the cap and tax legislation, as previously mentioned would be equivalent to a 15% tax increase on all individuals, regardless of income. Additionally, this past spring, President Obama increased taxes on cigarettes. While I don't advocate smoking, I also don't advocate excessive taxes on cigarettes. Cigarette taxes are largely regressive, meaning they hit low income individuals hardest (i.e. those earning well below $250,000).

So once again, Sarah was right!