Tax Plans: Democrats V Republicans

Tax Plans
There is a long history of tax “reforms” and tax protests, even beginning in the colonial times. Since we have united as a nation, our government has viewed the variety of taxes we utilize as a necessity to run our country. But the formation of the two party system has created a dilemma in the taxation of Americans; now various standpoints and platforms have arisen over this issue, causing uncertainty. Also, the number of various taxes cause even more opinions to be shown. The contrasting differences between the Republican and Democratic platforms regarding tax plans have shifted over the years, but it can be greatly examined in the 2008 election platforms of Obama and McCain.
Our country has enacted many taxes over the years, such as the infamous income tax, corporate tax, social security payroll, capital gains and dividends taxes, estate tax, etc. The Republicans have a belief that the government should have as little involvement as possible, and therefore do not believe that people who earned their money in a fair manner should be taxed more so than those who are less wealthy. This ideas are the core reasons of the Republican Party Tax Reform. Their platform states that “[Taxes] not only burden[s] the American people; it threatens to slow, and perhaps to reverse, the economic expansion…” (Republican Platform adopted at GOP National Convention Aug 12, 2000). The Bush tax plan aimed to increase child tax credit by doubling it, encourage entrepreneurship, and target the low-income class rather than the wealthy. This plan is a perfect example of the Republican platform on taxes.
The Democratic Platform on Tax Reform issued in the 2004 election also exemplifies the liberal view on taxes. Their reform calls for tax breaks for the middle class, not the wealthy, the complete opposite of the Republican stance. They did not believe that the huge tax cuts that Bush aimed to give to the wealthiest would be affordable for our country. The ideology of this lies within the core of Democrats on the government, that they should be strongly involved and affiliated with the people. They do not believe that the “trickle-down” effect will be beneficial to the economy, so Democrats attempt to create fiscal equality within the nation. In 2004, their platform stated that they no longer wanted the wealthy to hoard their money and those lower-income workers to be “punished” for their work ethic (The Democratic Platform for America, p.23). The 2008 Tax Reform also shows much of this, considering their desire to eliminate income tax for the elderly and start-up companies from capital tax gains (Tax Planks in Democratic Party Platform, Paul L. Caron)
Although Republicans and Democrats express blaring contrasting beliefs on Tax Reform, this issue leads to a key topic to discuss at every election. Sometimes, this issue even can lead to a win for a candidate. Because this issue is so polarized, it becomes difficult to ever reach a “happy medium.”