An Easy Guide to Obama's Big Tax Increase

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8:34 PM, Aug 13, 2008 • By BRIAN FAUGHNAN

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It's pretty simple. If you have an adjusted gross income of between $85,000 and $100,000 or so, Obama won't raise your marginal tax rates. If you're anywhere else in the income scale, you're not so lucky.

Although Obama is offering a new series of tax breaks, they undermine rather than improve economic incentives. First, whether or not you get those breaks will depend on your income. In Washington, taking away tax breaks as families work harder to make more money is called a "phase-out." Economists have a different name for it-we call it a tax. Reducing a person's tax credit as his income goes up also reduces his incentive to earn more income.

Obama told the American people:

It is supported by every independent economist who has looked at our plan. If you are a family making less than $250,000 my plan will not raise your taxes. Period.