Below is an analysis of the impacts of the McCain and Obama tax cuts plans. The source is CNN/Money, thanks to Obama Brewer for the link.

As you look at these numbers consider both the trillions being added to the national debt in a time of war and the tiny impact of the cuts (in the case of McCain: 1% for most folks, 9% for millionaires) as a percentage of income. (More after the table.)

	McCain		Obama
New National Debt (increase over 10y)	$4.5 trillion		$3.3 trillion
	McCain		Obama
Income Level	Savings	% of income	Savings	% of income
Under $19K	$19.00	0.1%	$567.00	3.0%
$19K - $38K	$113.00	0.4%	$892.00	3.1%
$38K - $66K	$319.00	0.6%	$1,042.00	2.0%
$66K - $112K	$1,009.00	1.1%	$1,290.00	1.4%
$112K - $161K	$2,614.00	1.9%	$2,204.00	1.6%
$161K - $227K	$4,380.00	2.3%	$2,789.00	1.4%
$227K - $603K	$7,871.00	1.9%	-$12.00	-0.0%
$603K and up	$45,361.00	8.9%	-$115,974.00	-22.8%
Over $2.9M	$269,364.00	9.3%	-$701,885.00	-24.2%

The critical thing to consider is the trillions of dollars being added to the national debt ($4.5 trillion over ten years for McCain, $3.2 trillion for Obama) at a time when we are already running deficits and fighting a war. We haven’t been successful at reducing deficits with a Republican congress and president so it seems optimistic to do the double-down again on unfunded tax “cuts” and expect a different outcome. (The only time the government has run a surplus in recent memory was during the Clinton administration.)

The other thing to consider is the relatively small benefits across the board as a percentage of income. It’s not going to move the needle for many people– not even a cost of living adjustment, much less a raise. If you’re making a $500,000 a year, McCain’s plan will cut your taxes by 2% of that. If you’re making $100,000 the cut is only 1%. Even if you make millions a year McCain’s plan results in an less than 10% of additional income.

Far more likely to make a difference in people’s income and lives is a booming economy, fueled by technical innovation and a well-trained workforce.

There are differences, of course, in which income segments receive the greatest “benefits” under each plan, with Obama’s cuts weight towards lower incomes and McCain’s cuts weighted towards higher incomes. But this a red herring. As long as the government is running a deficit, these aren’t tax cuts at all, they’re government handouts paid for by borrowing.

American voters refuse to elect a president who doesn’t pander to them with these so-called tax cuts, and they elect congressmen and women who fight tooth and nail for their own pork. At some point we’re going to have grow up and face facts that this continued borrowing is unsustainable.

Update: Here is a more precise online calculator that will calculate your taxes based on how much you make, how many children you have, and whether you are married. Broadly, the conclusion agree with the table above. [Geek notes: I used OpenOffice to create the table and export it to HTML. I was quite please with how well it worked, though ideally the HTML for the table would be cleaner.)