Interactive ‘08
Oct 29
You all know I’m always up for finding a good way to translate an idea/argument/principle into words, but sometimes there really is no better way to do that than through an interactive application. Case in point: taxes.
Taxes are complicated. Taxes are boring. Taxes are different for everyone, so they’re hard to effectively explain. What the Obama team’s done here is an excellent example of how an interactive application can cut right through all of that. Simply and easily, it takes a complicated proposal and breaks it down in a way that speaks to people on a personal and direct level while demonstrating the stark difference between the candidate and his competition on this issue. Doesn’t get better than that!
Oct 30 at 14:01
hmmm… i think using a calculator widget on the site is a clever marketing idea, but i also feel it has the potential to misinform people. it seems intentionally vague to me, like just asking annual income instead of taxable income. “check if you are saving for retirement and check if you have college expenses” are vague too. if you read the faq’s it claims to take all of that into the calculation but it seems like that would be difficult to do since there are so many factors that influence taxable income.
and then i have to wonder how often they update it. like last night, after he stated he would be raising taxes on people who earn over $200k instead of $250k.
Oct 30 at 15:19
I agree Erin… I thought it was silly to show $0 on the McCain side for the non-rich income levels, but then not show any dollar figures at all for the > $200k people.
That said, I think the Obama campaign has consistently said that people making less than $250k would see NO INCREASE in taxes, and that 95% of those people would actually see a CUT. In last night’s Obamercial he said “Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year” which is not inconsistent with previous statements… just a little confusing if not parsed carefully.
Oct 30 at 15:30
while we’re on political sites and their use of interactive… abe i wanted to show you this masterpiece of flash:
http://palinaspresident.us/
regardless of your political views, that site is FUNNY.
Oct 30 at 15:39
hahaha i was just thinking of what that would be like if abe made something like this for our office….
Oct 30 at 15:50
Hilarious! You know, if I wasn’t so darn’d busy doin’ flash projects fer our clients n’ such, You better believe I’d be makin’ fun stuff like that site all the time! *wink*
Oct 31 at 09:25
Though I’m standing by the brilliance of the tax widget on the Obama site, here’s the great thing about good writing:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/us/politics/31taxes.html?ref=todayspaper
Clarification: Check.
Oct 31 at 15:42
Okay, well then I must ask this in refernce to the article:
“That would yield a tax credit of $500 for a single person, and $1,000 for a couple in which both adults work. As a result, a low-income couple now paying no income taxes might receive a $1,000 refund.”
Refund…
If I go to a store, and I return something I purchased, then I can get a refund. I’m getting something back because I gave them something.
On the other hand, if I go to a store I’ve never purchased anything from, and I ask them for a refund, they will laugh at me and tell me to leave, probably not in such nice words, because I am not entitled to a refund.
One situation is a refund. The other situation is not. It’s something else….James knows what it is.
Oct 31 at 15:47
The income tax isn’t the only tax a working person pays. A person who works (and doesn’t get paid cash…that’s an issue for another day) pays payroll taxes as well. I believe that’s the dough that’s being “refunded.”
Oct 31 at 15:52
I call it love for fellow Americans.
But really, it’s not that those people don’t pay anything, it’s just not “income taxes” per se. They still pay social security and medicare, and may or may not be paying state income taxes. Regardless, it’s no more distribution of wealth than say… minimum wage is. If you strip the various labels off of the money that’s circulated, then it’s all the same – distribution of wealth is all around us, and all of us benefit greatly from it.
But I still just call it love.
Oct 31 at 16:08
But to be exempt from income taxes you have to be making very little money, like around $2k or something, I don’t know the exact number. Or at least that’s all you’re reporting on your tax forms.
So even if you are paying SS and Medicare, you aren’t paying $1k in taxes. Well, unless you were the loving type, like James, and you decided you wanted to give 50% of your income in taxes.
So the equation is still unbalanced right? Isn’t that like buying a candy bar and getting a $100 refund?