Star One Smart Blog's

...inspired by the G00gle search, "Obama raise taxes". And that search's News results.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama said Sunday that if elected he will push to increase the amount of income that currently is taxed to provide monthly Social Security benefits.

Obama and other Democratic presidential candidates previously have signaled support for this idea.

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Obama: More Taxes, Rights for bin Laden

According to the National Taxpayers Union, Obama has proposed at least $287 billion a year in new government spending. He also co-sponsored a Senate bill to spend at least $845 billion a year to fight global poverty.

Obama would pay for these increases with much higher taxes, including by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010.

Americans for Tax Reform gives him a lifetime rating of 7.5, compared with 82.7 for John McCain.

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Obama: I deserve a tax increase

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama said Sunday he will push for higher Social Security taxes if elected, viewing it as the best option for improving the retirement program's finances.

Obama and several other Democratic presidential candidates previously have signaled support for lifting the cap on the amount of income that is taxed to provide monthly Social Security checks.

But during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama said taxing more of a person's income was the option he would push for if elected president. He objected to benefit cuts or a higher retirement age.

"I think the best way to approach this is to adjust the cap on the payroll tax so that people like myself are paying a little bit more and people who are in need are protected," the Illinois senator said.

"That is the option that I will be pushing forward."

... Newer results, from the News Results (these are just hours old)

What Obama means for business

... The core of Obama's economic plan is (a) more government spending: $65 billion a year for universal health insurance, $15 billion a year on alternative energy, $20 billion to help homeowners avoid default, $60 billion to bolster the nation's infrastructure, $10 billion annually to give students college tuition in exchange for public service, and on and on; and (b) shifting the tax burden upward: ending the Bush tax cuts on families making more than $250,000 and raising payroll taxes on those same higher-income earners (the latter meant to bolster Social Security without cutting benefits or raising the retirement age). Middle-class earners would receive tax cuts, and low-income seniors would pay no income tax. Combined with a tax rebate as part of this new $50 billion stimulus plan, he argues, putting more money in the hands of middle-class consumers will help them cope with the income squeeze as well as rising energy prices.

Obama also wants to raise a range of other taxes on business and investment. He would increase the 15% capital gains tax rate - probably to 25%, according to advisors, though he excludes small businesses and new ventures from the tax altogether. He would raise the dividends tax, reinstate a 45% tax on estates worth more than $3.5 million, and close $1.3 trillion in "corporate tax loopholes." The thinking behind those tax hikes comes in part from Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist who has studied behavioral response to economic policies. Goolsbee believes the Republican argument that lower tax rates - by spurring investment and productivity - end up generating more revenue than they lose is overblown. (He notes that Obama wants to go back to the rates of the '90s, when the economy was booming.) Instead, he believes the tax code should be used to ease financial pressures on the middle class.

[Oh..and this blurb on fuel prices...didn't I just post on this? Misery Index, huh?- ed.]

... But to encourage a transition toward alternatives, Obama favors legislation that would make fossil fuel more expensive. Doesn't that mean more pain to come under an Obama presidency? "There is no doubt that in the short term, adapting to this new energy economy is going to carry some costs." But, he adds, citing the coal industry's ability to adapt to stop acid rain in the 1980s, "I would never underestimate the power of American innovation."

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Obama details plan to tax excess oil company profits
23 Jun, 2008, 0104 hrs IST, AGENCIES

WASHINGTON: With American gasoline prices breaking records, Democrat Barack Obama on Sunday detailed plans for a new tax on oil companies, a so-called windfall penalty on sales of crude at or above $80 a barrel. Republican John McCain has rejected such a move after previously saying he was open to dunning excess profits.

The Obama proposal also calls for closing what has become known as the ``Enron loophole,'' a 2000 measure that allowed unfettered oil trading on electronic markets. Many now believe the legislation has led to speculation in the tight energy market and is responsible for the rapid climb in oil prices, which closed at $135 a barrel on Friday.

Obama targeted the oil companies and traders after rejecting calls by both McCain and President George W. Bush to lift a ban on offshore oil drilling that has been in place for more than a quarter century.

Yeah. We get the point.

O!

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h/t (Futurama) Dan Collins

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