Obama, McCain, and taxation of the middle class

An item posted today on the MSNBC site entitled “Who’d give more to the middle class” looks at both candidates’ records and promises regarding taxation.

On the one hand, a McCain campaign ad portrays Obama as intending to increase taxes on those earning only $42,000 as well as small business, seniors, your life savings, your family.”

But a more objective look at both candidates’ plans shows that Obama would cut taxes by 3.6% on those earning $37,595, and by 2.4% on those earning $66,354. McCain would only cut taxes on these two brackets by 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively.

Who to believe? It’s hard to tell. In any event, the primary issue for the middle class isn’t taxation. A percentage point here or there won’t change the underlying problems: outsourcing, globalization, de-industrialization, mass cheap-labor immigration. Neither of the candidates, it seems, want to address these problems head-on.