Barack Obama’s tax plan has been called a lot of things. His supporters say it is fair and forces the rich to pay their fair share, his opponents call his tax plan socialist and say it will advocate class warfare. Before making a judgment, let’s look at the numbers of Obama’s tax plan calculated by the Wall Street Journal and the Tax Policy Center:

1.       89 million of 220 million eligible voters (40%) pay no income taxes. Under Obama’s plan, this number will increase to 49%.

2.       Under Obama’s plan, 11% of voters will pay less than 5% of their income and less than $1,000 in taxes.

OK, so under Obama’s plan 40% of all voters will pay almost all of the income taxes. 49% of voters won’t pay any income taxes and another 11% will barely pay anything. Most will say “So what? They can afford it, and the rich don’t pay their fair share of the taxes anyway.” The problem is, Obama’s plan will put almost all the burden on 40% of voters. 40% of America’s voters aren’t rolling in money, Obama’s plan won’t tax the filthy rich, many others will bear the tax burden. As for the fair share argument, the 40% that Obama will raise taxes on already pays 95% of income taxes.

Even if we assume that Obama will cut taxes for 95% percent of Americans and raise taxes for the remaining 5%, his tax plan will result in economic downturn. The top 5% of income earners are the ones who create jobs. As much as we love to adore the middle and lower class, the rich are the ones who employ the lower and middle class. Higher taxes on the top 5% will cripple the economy. If taxes get too high, businesses will either cut back or move overseas. If business refuse to employ workers or move out of the country, the lower and middle class will suffer. We may enjoy taxing those rich fatcats, but when we do so, we’re cutting our nose to spite our face.