McCain’s Economic Stimulus Plan – Give Millionaires a $75,000 Tax Break

In the wake of the current financial markets meltdown – and the meltdown of his own campaign – John McCain unveiled a set of initiatives aimed at stimulating the economy. The centerpiece of McCain’s proposal is a reduction of the capital gains and dividend tax rate from 15% to 7.5%.

McCain’s chief economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin described the proposal as being:

“targeted at people who have been hurt by the recent financial crisis — seniors, savers, workers, people who are trying to get to college.”

The Tax Policy Center fired up their computers to crunch some numbers on the McCain dividend and capital gains tax cut. The results are summarized below:

Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan

Iraq FY08 – $149.2 Billion ($12.43B/month)

Afghanistan FY08 – $32.8 Billion ($2.73B/month)

Total FY08 – $180 Billion

Total since 9/11: $859 Billion

(Click on chart for larger view)

For Full Report: Congressional Research Service, “The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Global War on Terror Operations since 9/11.”

What do the Candidates’ Tax Plans Mean for Bangor, Maine? The Answer Might Surprise You.

Barak Obama Will Cut Taxes More than John McCain for 95.7% of Bangor Residents

John McCain and Barak Obama have both proposed tax plans that will cut income taxes for most Americans. The Tax Policy Institute has a very comprehensive analysis of the candidate’s plans, as well as some very informative projections available on its website. In this analysis I focus on the implications of each candidate’s plans for the working families of Bangor, ME.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey of 2007 gives us a fairly detailed picture of the breakdown of household incomes in the Bangor, ME metropolitan statistical area (MSA). We see that, like much of the country, the vast majority of Bangor residents earn incomes of less than $200,000 per year. Nearly 50% of households in the Bangor MSA have annual incomes between $25,000 and $75,000, while 2.2% earn more than $200,000 per year.

(Click on chart for larger view)

For the data table behind the chart, click here.

There has been a lot of talk about tax relief for working Americans; just how much relief depends on your definition of “working Americans.”