(Newser)
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Despite David Brooks' attempts to “muddy” the mathematical waters, Barack Obama’s tax plan doesn’t hit the wealthy very hard—and it’s the one that helps the middle class, Jared Bernstein writes in Talking Points Memo Café. Brooks wrote in the Times that moneyed Americans would pay “over 50% of their income” under Obama, but Bernstein says the top 1% would fork over 36%, the top 0.1% only 39%—comparable to rates under Clinton.
Further, Bernstein writes, Obama will raise taxes only on those making more than $250,000 (that’s the top 3-4%) and he’ll cut middle-class rates $1,000—far more than McCain’s $300 (meanwhile, Mac would cut rates for those making $2.9 million by $270,000). Brooks also observes that Obama’s big donors are elites, but 90% of the Dem’s contributors gave less than $200.