Shoudn't you actually have to pay income taxes to get a tax cut?

You would think so.

Which is why, technically, it's INCOME REDISTRIBUTION and not a "tax cut"....

I've been kind of surprised too that nobody asks that. He's apparently talking about doing something like increasing EIC to give the people who don't pay taxes more government money. In some quarters this is called redistribution of wealth rather than a tax cut. He has said 95% of working families, not 95% of taxpayers. In any case, and this is the same for either candidate's "plans", a president can't give anyone one cent, it's Congress that can change tax law, not the president.

ABSOLUTELY!

Below is a great analogy that someone shared on another site...I believe it was from gretawire.com.

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read ‘Vote Obama, I need the money.’ I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on an Obama ‘08 tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference–just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need–the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I’ve decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Please also visit the Wall Street Journal website. They have a great article that analyzes the Junior Senator's tax plan (called Obama's 95% Illusion).

Many of you are displaying gross ignorance regarding welfare and taxes...the people whining about tax cuts for the middle class should be whining about the corporations that don't pay taxes. They are whining so much because to them a corporation is not the neighbor or person with a face that they can judge. These people need to feel superior to somebody so the possibility of equality infuriates them.

Do you think that is the only tax? Have you ever heard of payroll tax? If the goal is to improve and grow the economy, that requires consumers with money to spend, so cutting low to middle income folks taxes (some of which might only pay the payroll tax) is a smart way to accomplish that. Trickle-down, or supply-side, economics is a scam and has been proved time and again not to work.

Plenty of folks get the Earned Income Credit and pay NO taxes at all on top of that. That credit dates back to the REAGAN administration and has been expanded MASSIVELY by both Bush administrations. If Obama want's to extend it -- or at least get rid of the marriage penalty built in to it -- I don't really have a problem. A better solution would be to dump it and reset the minimum wage, which if it had kept pace with inflation since 1967 would be around $13.50 to $14.00 now.

Oh I just love this one. This is a perfect example of how Obama is nothing but a car salesman trying to do ANYTHING to trick people into supporting him.

Obama's argument goes like this... All workers pay payroll taxes (Social Security for all you Obamabots...). Obama is basically saying that he is going to give the 40% or so workers who don't pay any income taxes a credit similar to the EIC (Earned Income Credit for all you Obamabots...) to "offset" the payroll taxes.

Personally, I'm surprised that Al Gore hasn't stormed the stage and put an old school whooping on Obama for this one (maybe Al is too busy with Global Warming). Obama is basically saying he's going to rob the Social Security "lock box" (which really doesn't exist) to buy poor and uneducated votes. Again...a perfect example that Obama either has no freaking clue how the economy works, or that he's just a Chicago style lying thug fishing for votes.

No with 4 kids and a stay at home wife taking good care of them.....I should get money from the Government not have to pay taxes

That's right and McCain hasn't figured that out yet...He says give a tax cut so people can buy their own health insurance but he hasn't figured out yet there are millions who have low incomes and are not required to pay... that's the republican mentality

Now there's an idea! See if you can get any Democrats to agree with you.

http://ibdeditorials.com/series15.aspx

For those unaware of the facts, all "working Americans" do not pay taxes. About 40% of the lowest income workers do not.

Not in Obamaland.

And even then, they will vilify those who pay the lion's share of the tax burden. It's as though they think that the top 10 percent's paying ONLY 90 percent of the burden is unfair to those paying only 10 percent.

Amazing. Fomenting class warfare has played well for the left.