the distribution of the federal tax burden is the underlying issue.
here is the current breakdown of tax payments by quintile.
here is obama's proposal and how the tax burden will be felt by each quintile.
here is mccain's proposal and how the tax burden will be felt by each quintile.
the bottom line: both candidates proposals are tax cuts, mcain givin more of a total cut than obama.
the difference is who gets the tax cuts. mccain gives almost no tax cut to the lowest quintile, modest cuts to the 2nd and 3 rd lower quintile, and most of the cuts to the two highest quintiles.
conversley obama gives the greatest tax cuts to the lowest, and steadily reduces the tax cut in each quintile with the highest quintile getting a tax increase.
interesting that the average tax rate for obama ends up at 21.8% while mccain's proposal results in a 21.0% average tax rate.
each quintile in obama's plan has a less average tax rate than mccain's except for the highest quintile, and in obama's proposal each quintile gets a greater positive change in their after tax income except the highest quintile when compared to mccain's.
in answer to one of the questions asked, yes, the lowest quintile of workers do get a a greater tax refund than they put in in income tax payments. however i believe it is important to note that this quintile will still pay some federal taxes (primarily through employment taxes) even with no income tax liability.
hope these charts help understand the two candidates proposals.