Conservative Heritage Foundation Praises Obama`s Tax Plan [View All]

[Hope And Change]

Senator Obama meets with some of his top economic advisors on July 28 at Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Obama Aides Say He Would Lower Taxes

Heritage Hails 'Great Step in The Right Direction'

By RUSSELL BERMAN, Staff Reporter of the Sun | August 15, 2008

WASHINGTON — Senator Obama, with his lead against Senator McCain narrowing in some polls, is trying to portray himself as the real tax-cutter in the presidential race.

And even some conservatives are praising him for it.

A senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Rea Hederman Jr., praised Mr. Obama for proposing a 20% tax rate on dividends and capital gains, lower than a 28% rate he had initially floated, though still more than the current 15% rate. "That's a great step in the right direction," Mr. Hederman said. "It's a big change from what we thought the Obama tax plan would be at the beginning of the summer."

Mr. Hederman said the middle class would likely pay less under Mr. Obama's plan than Mr. McCain's but that the Democrat was excessively reliant on complicated tax breaks that would make the tax code more confusing. "Instead of a grab bag of tax credits, lower the marginal rates," Mr. Hederman said.

The details announced yesterday, in an opinion column in the Wall Street Journal and on a conference call with reporters, marked an effort by the Obama campaign to fend off intensifying attacks from the McCain campaign that his planned tax increases would hit millions more Americans than he had been claiming.

The Obama advisers said his plan would not raise any taxes for couples making less than $250,000 annually or singles earning less than $200,000. They cited a series of proposals for tax credits and rate cuts aimed at low- and middle-income earners.


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