Say the magic words "Tax Cuts" and get elected!!!

Hey, I'm ALL for tax cuts. I'd love to keep more of my money in my pocket. It's one of the reasons I probably should usually vote Republican: I pay a lot of taxes and I grit my teeth every paycheck when I look at the amount going to federal taxes.

But it seems today that all a politician has to say is "I'll cut taxes" and no one asks any further questions. Like, for who? And how much does this mean for me on payday?

Fact is, most of the taxes are paid by the wealthy. I've read stats that are all over the place as far as the percentage, but let's say for argument's sake that 90% of the taxes are paid by the top 5% of the earners. So doesn't it follow that the beneficiaries of any substantial cut in taxes will be those same top 5%?

And do they need it? I mean, after that first million in income, how much more do you really need?

On the other hand, why work hard and earn more if the lion's share of that money is going to the feds? "One for you, nineteen for me..." (Who can name the song that comes from?)

But I digress - that really wasn't why I was journaling about this today. The average Joe likes to hear the words "Tax Cut" come out of a politician's mouth, because they think they might get enough extra in their paycheck to go buy that sixpack next pay period. Meanwhile, when you spread that 6 dollars a pay period over millions of wage earners, and over 26 pay periods a year, it adds up in lost revenues to the government. Does Joe Sixpack want less money coming back to his community in the form of, oh, say, funding for roadwork? For his kids' school?

If I were a politician, I would definitely want to cut taxes. But I'd want to cut them for people who need those cuts.

Which of these two candidates is cutting taxes in that manner? Are either of them? I've heard the buzz words come out of both of their mouths. But I suspect McCain's cuts are more aimed at that top 5% and businesses (even as he berates Obama for being a party to legislation that he characterized as corporate welfare) than at Joe Sixpack, because when he talks about them, he talks about those cuts stimulating job growth and such. Cutting Joe's taxes doesn't increase a single job, I don't think. Whereas Obama talks about putting money in the pockets of people who need it via his own tax cuts.

I like the idea of cutting the bottom level of taxes. That cuts taxes for me, just the same as cutting the top level does. We all pay our taxes in tiers. The first x amount of dollars we pay taxes on at the lowest rate, then it graduates upward from there. (We don't pay taxes on ALL of our income at one rate - if you're in the 28% tax bracket you only get taxed 28% on the amount that is above the threshold for the 15% bracket.) (Not sure of the exact tax bracket percentages today. I'd have to look them up.) Raising up the amount of income on EVERYONE that goes untaxed, via exemptions or deductions, lowers taxes on everyone, but as a percentage, it probably favors the lower wage earners.

I think everyone should look at just how each of these candidates proposes to cut taxes. And then consider if their cuts help YOU.

And consider the things that are worth paying the government to do for us. Defense, sure. Education? Infrastructure? Are those things better done on the state or local level? Health care? Social Security? Are these things better done privately?

If the answer FOR YOU is no, and you want the federal government to do this stuff, then why the heck are you worrying about tax cuts anyway? Vote accordingly, not just for the guy who says "Tax Cuts! the loudest...

Here's a link to an article discussing the candidates' plans for tax cuts: Money.CNN.com