There's been more than a little bit of back-and-forth when it comes to taxes and politics. Lately, the fracas has surrounded President Obama's plan to raise the top tax rate from 35% to 39.6%.

In this political action, many have seen the sky falling, and ridiculousness abounds. It can be summed up quite nicely in this political cartoon.

One argument, cited frequently by opponents of a top tax rate increase (and used a few days ago by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell) is that raising the top tax rate will severely harm small business. Not so fast, says factcheck.org, who found that claim to be rather misleading. Among those counted as a small-business owner: a "TV anchorwoman making $1 million in salary and reporting $25,000 in speaking fees as Schedule C income." Hm.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not naive enough to believe there isn't a certain amount of creative wordsmithing with any issue, be it by Republicans, Democrats, Independents, or the long-forgotten Whigs. But seeing as the gap between wealthy and poor in this country has tripled in the last 30 years, it seems fair for citizens like us to ask their representatives, many of which reside in that uppermost tax bracket (like the 2/3 of Senators who are millionaires), to give it to us straight.

Speaking of the truth, a bill that would extend tax cuts for those making under $200k ($250k for couples) is stalled in Congress. Why? Republican leadership refuses to sign off until the tax breaks for the wealthy are ensured. No politics here. Just the news.

--Brandon

Photo taken from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.
 

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