Thank You President Obama

Do you remember last week when Barack Obama essentially mocked those who were holding tax protests across the country?  He thinks we should be thanking him for the tax cuts that he says he delivered on as promised on the campaign trail.

I decided that I would do a little comparison of my taxes for the last two years.  After all, I want to be fair to the President.  If his tax cuts for "95% of working Americans" has benefited me in any appreciable way, I should be willing to share that with you folks here.

In 2009, I saw my income rise by 5.2%.  This increase was not thanks to anything that Obama had put into place.  I switched jobs in May of 2008, and my rise in income was strictly due to the job switch.  In fact, due to the economy, my new employer did not give any pay raises in 2009.  I should add that I am well below the threshold of $250000 per year that the administration is using to define the rich.  In fact, I am well below the six figure salary threshold.

On the tax side of the equation, my tax burden increased by 3.1% over the prior year.  After taking into consideration all of my eligible deductions and any tax credits, my taxable income increased by 2.6%.  The net effect of comparing 2009 vs 2008, is that I saw my effective federal tax rate fall from 5.58% in 2008 to 5.47% in 2009, a decline of 0.11%.

Since my tax rate declined by 0.11%, I guess you could say that I benefited from the tax cuts.  My share worked out to about an extra $1.49 per week for my family.  The Obama tax cuts were part of his massive stimulus package.  I wonder how much my extra $1.49 helped stimulate the economy last year?

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