You knew it had to happen. With McCain typically leading in most polls for the senior citizen vote, particularly white voters 65 and up (think Florida as a key swing state), Barry’s magic teleprompter told him to pander to seniors (which went over like a pink lead balloon with tax policy experts)
If you’re a senior citizen and make less than $50,000 a year, Barack Obama has a deal for you: the rest of your life free of federal income tax.
Sounds appealing, right? Maybe to many seniors. But tax policy experts in Washington are giving it bad reviews. They see it as another subsidy for senior citizens, who already get federal help through Social Security and Medicare and often have economic advantages over other demographic groups.
The Obama campaign says the idea would give tax cuts averaging $1,400 to 7 million seniors who are battling inflation with mostly fixed incomes. The campaign also says the plan would relieve millions of older people from having to file complicated tax returns.
“If you work hard and pay into the system, you’ve earned the right to a secure retirement,” says a description of the plan on the Obama campaign’s Web site. “But too many seniors aren’t getting that security, even though they’ve held up their end of the bargain. Lower- and middle-income seniors are struggling as their expenses on health and energy skyrocket while their incomes do not keep pace.”
In other words, too many seniors have not bought in to the messianic appeal of hope and change and presidential seals. They are still Herberts and have not joined in with the unity and oneness of Barry.
It comes down to seniors not having been born yesterday (groan), and mostly not falling for the rediculous and disasterous, not to mention ant-American, policies of Barack Obama. So, mega-pander time!
