The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #114765 Message #2453167
Posted By: PoppaGator
29-Sep-08 - 04:18 PM
Thread Name: Est Your Tax - McCain vs Obama
Subject: RE: Est Your Tax - McCain vs Obama
Back in the early 80s when the Reagan administration was crowing about their "tax cuts," my take-home pay was suddenly and drastically lowered ~ I began payong more taxes than ever before. Federal income tax may have been slightly decreased for people in my tax bracket, but a significant increase in FICA (social security) more than offeset any advantage.
My expereicen was hardly unusual; it's not like I was especially low- or high-income. For quite a few years through the 70s and 80s, my yearly pay was about equal to the average household income nationwide. So, with the addition of my wife's income (sometimes part-time, sometimes more), we were doing just a little better than average. (The average houehold income in today's dollars is around $45,000.)
I'm absolutely sure that a lot of people were in the same boat as me, but an unbelievably large segment wanted to believe the Reaganite propaganda, and accepted the line that they were being given a tax reduction when in fact they were paying more than ever, while corporations and the highest-income individuals were starting off on the road to total unregulated dominance which has brought us to today's crisis.