Explore Candidates → President → Barack Obama on Taxes and Budget
Barack Obama
on
Taxes and Budget
- Abortion and Birth Control
- Civil Liberties and Domestic Security
- Crime and Punishment
- Education
- Environment and Energy
- Gay Rights
- Government and Elections
- Gun Control
- Health Care
- Immigration
- Internet and Media
- Iraq and Foreign Policy
- Medical Marijuana and Drug Policy
- Religion and Public Life
- Science
- Social Security
- Taxes and Budget
- Trade and Economics
"We are told that the market will correct all of our problems. And that there is no problem that cannot be solved by another tax break that the wealthy didn't need, and half the time didn't ask for. We have tried that way for the last six years -- we are ready to try something new."
Q: Do you agree that the rich aren't paying their fair share of taxes? A: There's no doubt that the tax system has been skewed. And the Bush tax cuts--people didn't need them, and they weren't even asking for them, and that's why they need to be less, so that we can pay for universal health care and other initiatives. But I think this goes to a broader question, and that is, are we willing to make the investments in genuine equal opportunity in this country? People aren't looking for charity. We talk about welfare and we talk about poverty, but what people really want is fairness. They want people paying their fair share of taxes. They want that money allocated fairly. One of the distressing things about Katrina was the fact that we have not made systematic investments. And the only way we're going to make it is by making sure that those of us who are fortunate enough to have the money actually make a contribution.
2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University Jun 28, 2007
Obama has proposed tax cuts for middle-income families and retirees, a $50-billion economic stimulus package, a higher minimum wage and expanded unemployment benefits, along with help for homeowners facing foreclosure.
"I'll provide struggling homeowners relief by offering a tax credit to low- and middle-income Americans that would cover ten percent of their mortgage interest payment every year."
Proposed $80 billion in tax cuts for middle class alone.
"We were told by our President that we could fight two wars, increase our military budget by 74%, spend more on education, initiate a prescription drug plan, have tax cuts, all at the same time. We were told by Congress that they could make up for lost revenue by cutting government waste. The result is the most precarious budget situation we have seen in years. We now have an annual budget deficit of almost $300 billion, not counting more than $180 billion we borrow every year from the Social Security Trust Fund. It is not the debt that is most troubling. The bulk of the debt is a direct result of the President's tax cuts, 47.4% of which went to the top 5% income bracket. We can eliminate tax credits that have outlived their usefulness & close loopholes that let corporations get away without paying taxes. We can restore a law that was in place during the Clinton presidency--called Paygo--that prohibits money from leaving the treasury without some way of compensating for the lost revenue."
"The numbers don't lie. At a time when income inequality is growing sharper, the Bush tax cuts gave the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans a tax cut that was twice as large as the middle class. At a time when Americans are working harder than ever, we are taxing income from work at nearly twice the level that we're taxing gains for investors."
"Well, you know, what I've said is that we should go back to probably a top marginal rate of 39 percent what it was before the Bush tax cuts. So I would roll back those Bush tax cuts, I would not increase taxes for middle class Americans and in fact I want to provide a tax cut for people who are making $75,000 a year or less. For those folks, I want an offset on the payroll tax that would be worth as much as $1,000 for a family. Senior citizens who are bringing in less than $50,000 a year in income, I don't want them to have to pay income tax on their Social Security. And as part of my overall approach to housing, I actually want to provide an additional 10 percent mortgage deduction, a credit, mortgage interest credit, for those who currently don't itemize. Because if you live in a house that's pretty expensive, like I do, and I itemize, I get a pretty big break from Uncle Sam. If you own a $100,000 house and you're making 65, $75,000 a year, you're not getting that same deduction. I think that they deserve a break as well."
Will raise taxes on the rich and provide tax cuts to middle and lower classes
"This isn't about saving small businesses and family farms. We can reform the estate tax to protect these Americans. We can set it at a level where no small business or family farm is ever affected - and we can do it in a way that doesn't cost us a trillion dollars. In fact, we've offered to reform the estate tax in this way time and time again. "
Voted NO on raising estate tax exemption to $5 million
Kyl Amendment; Bill S.Amdt.507 on S.Con.Res.21 ; vote number 2007-083 on Mar 21, 2007
Voted NO on supporting permanence of estate tax cuts
Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act; Bill H.R. 5970 ; vote number 2006-229 on Aug 3, 2006
Voted NO on permanently repealing "death tax."
Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act; Bill HR 8 ; vote number 2006-164 on Jun 8, 2006
"Our tax code should encourage parents to get married, not penalize them."
"As president, Obama will reward work by increasing the number of working parents eligible for EITC benefits, increasing the benefit available to parents who support their children through child support payments, and reducing the EITC marriage penalty which hurts low-income families."
Voted NO on repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax
Grassley Amendment; Bill S.Amdt.471 on S.Con.Res.21 ; vote number 2007-108 on Mar 23, 2007
"I think that we can have a capital gains rate that is higher than 15 percent. If it--and if it, you know--when I talk to people like Warren Buffet or others and I ask them, you know, what's--how much of a difference is it going to be if it's 20 or 25 percent, they say, look, if it's within that range then it's not going to distort, I think, economic decision making...And that's why I think that it may be, for example, that you could structure something in which people with certain incomes were exempted from this increase and it would stay at 15."
Voted YES on $47B for military by repealing capital gains tax cut
Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act; Bill S Amdt 2737 to HR 4297 ; vote number 2006-008 on Feb 2, 2006
Voted NO on retaining reduced taxes on capital gains and dividends
Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act; Bill HR 4297 ; vote number 2006-010 on Feb 2, 2006
Voted NO on extending the tax cuts on capital gains and dividends
Tax Relief Act of 2005; Bill S. 2020 ; vote number 2005-347 on Nov 18, 2005
"To the Democrats and Republicans who opposed this plan [$700 billion bailout] yesterday, I say step up to the plate and do what's right for this country. And to all Americans, I say this: If and when I am president of the United States, this rescue plan will not be the end of what we do to strengthen this economy, it will only be the beginning."
Sen. Barack Obama this afternoon urged Treasury and Federal Reserve officials to include four conditions that he and other Democrats are seeking in the proposed $700 billion federal bailout for financial firms – though he stopped short of saying he would vote against the bailout if his terms were not met.
Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain indicated they will not stand in the way of the Bush administration's $700 billion rescue of U.S. financial markets, and each offered his own proposals for making it more palatable to voters: Obama laid out a plan to overhaul federal contracting and save an estimated $40 billion a year, while McCain proposed an oversight board to monitor the bailout.
Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday any plan to rescue Wall Street from its financial woes must ensure that taxpayers are reimbursed and corporate executives are not further enriched for mismanagement...Obama outlined several principles that he said should be included in the bailout to ensure that troubled financial firms and their executives don't take advantage of taxpayers. "Companies taking financial aid from the government must slash their executives' salaries,"" he said. "Taxpayers must be treated like investors who can share in any Wall Street recovery, perhaps with an ownership stake in the companies that are bailed out, and a new fee on financial services should be created to repay the government aid."
Senators Barack Obama and John McCain put their battleground campaigning temporarily on hold and returned to Washington on Wednesday to vote in favor of the $700 billion financial rescue package, the consequences of which will help frame the remainder of the fall presidential race.
Both presidential candidates intensified their efforts Tuesday to help push the financial bailout plan through Congress, lobbying skeptical lawmakers and warning publicly that a failure to act would cause a widespread economic crisis that would hurt regular people, not just financiers. Senators Barack Obama and John McCain both began the day suggesting a change in the bailout legislation to raise the federal insurance limit on bank deposits to $250,000 from $100,000, a move that had originally been sought by House Republicans, whose overwhelming opposition doomed the bill on Monday. And both men used their campaign appearances Tuesday to press for action in Congress.