Tax "Plans"

I’m sorry, but we have to talk about this…because it’s why I have a big problem with Barack Obama and his tax plan.

From the Wall Street Journal

Here's the political catch. All but the clean car credit would be "refundable," which is Washington-speak for the fact that you can receive these checks even if you have no income-tax liability. In other words, they are an income transfer -- a federal check -- from taxpayers to nontaxpayers. Once upon a time we called this "welfare," or in George McGovern's 1972 campaign a "Demogrant." Mr. Obama's genius is to call it a tax cut.

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.

So, let’s be clear on this.

You’re an American with a lower income. Due to our very progressive tax system, you don’t pay income tax. However, you can receive a tax refund (oh, I’m sorry, tax credit) from the government for doing a number of things...check out the article for that list.

This is bad. The reason we complain about taxes is because we believe them to be too high. However, I’ll be blunt here. If you don’t pay income taxes, you really should NOT get a tax refund. Perhaps it’s the fair, logical bones in my body, but it’s how I feel.