Scare Tactics on Taxes
GILMORE RHETORIC: During his announcement speech, Jim Gilmore said:
“In 2001 and 2003 we put federal tax cuts in place. And now, I say that they should stay. Mark Warner says that they should go. Let me tell you the consequences of this, this constant tax policy that we’re seeing out of Mark Warner. What are the consequences of it? ...
Well I’m here to tell you that they’re not just for the rich. This is a living, breathing reality. If these tax cuts go away we’re going to see an increase in the marriage penalty for families. We’re going to see diminution, a decrease of the child care credit. We’re going to see an increase of brackets across the board. We’re going to see an increase in the estate tax over 50-percent. We going to see an increase in dividends for senior citizens who are drawing dividends to help supplement their retirement income. We’re going to see increase on capital gains taxes.” [Gilmore announcement speech in Manassas, Virginia; 6/9/08]
REALITY: Mark Warner does not support increasing the marriage penalty for families. He does not support a decrease in the child care tax credit. He does not support increased dividends taxes for struggling senior citizens or increased capital gains taxes. And he most certainly does not support an across the board tax increase.
Mark Warner supports rolling back the Bush tax cuts for only the very top income brackets. For example, in 2008, millionaires will receive an average tax cut of $130,000 -- while a person making between $50,000 and $75,000 will only receive $1,200 in tax relief. That's an unfair ratio of 108-to-1. [Tax Policy Center, Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, "Distribution of the 2001-2006 Tax Cuts," Nov. 2006]
GILMORE RHETORIC: Gilmore claims that Mark Warner supports "a plan that will raise taxes over $3,000 for the average Virginia family." [Gilmore Flyer, accessed 6/14/08]
REALITY: Mark Warner does not
support any such plan. Gilmore is misleading voters about the benefits that “average
Virginia famil[ies]” received
from these tax cuts since approximately 20 percent of total benefits went to
the top 0.3% of households, those earning $1 million or more per year. Even
the Economist acknowledged that the Bush tax cuts “direct[ed] most of
the benefits to the well-off.” The median income-earning Virginia family
actually received $1,100 as a result of these tax cuts and Mark Warner supports
extending tax relief for those families. [Economist, 4-19-08; US Census 2006;
Report by the Joint Economic Committee Majority Staff, April 2008]