From today's Washington Post:
President-elect Barack Obama plans to push ahead with a middle-class taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. cut soon after taking office, his choice for White House chief of staff said yesterday.
Rahm Emanuel also hinted that Obama would not postpone a tax increase for families earning more than $250,000 a year despite the deepening economic gloom. He said Obama's proposals would reduce taxes for 95 percent of working Americans by an average of $1,000 each, resulting in "a net tax cut" for the overall economy.
The article doesn't challenge those talking points, but it all assumes that targeted spending-like tax credits and deductions aren't just spending through the tax code. Additionally, if you assume that the AMT would be patched whether or not Obama is president, his plan is probably a net tax increase for 2009.
See here for blog posts evaluating the Obama plan.
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