Senator Barack Obama: What is Senator Barack Obama's Position on Raising Taxes?

Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii in 1961 to Barack Obama Sr. and Anne Dunham. The 45-year-old senator from Illinois is married to Michelle Robinson and they have two daughters (Malia and Natasha). Senator Barack Obama graduated from Columbia University in 1985. After graduation, the senator became a community organizer for a church-based group in Chicago. The focus of the group was to improve poor neighborhoods.

Senator Barack Obama wanted to do more for his community so decided to pursue his law degree. He attended Harvard and graduated in 1991. After graduating, Senator Obama both practiced and taught the law.

In 1997, Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate. As and Illinois State Senator, Barack Obama helped create a state Earned Income Tax Credit. He served as an Illinois State Senator until his election to the U.S Senate in 2004.

As a U.S. State Senator, Barack Obama voted against a bill that would provide an estate tax credit. He did not feel that a bill that would benefit primarily the rich was in the best interest of the American people.

In an interview on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", Senator Obama discusses funding for his health care plan. Senator Obama states: "Rolling back the Bush tax cuts on the top 1 percent people who don't need it would be a good way of helping to pay for the additional services that were needed."

From his own voting history and from his interview with George Stephanopoulos, we can safely draw some conclusions about Senator Barack Obama's stand on taxes. We can see that he supports tax cuts for the working poor by the work he did as an Illinois State Senator. The creation of the state's Earned Income Tax Credit saved Illinois' working families over $100 million dollars in taxes. However, Senator Obama opposes tax breaks for the rich. This idea is supported both by his vote against the estate tax cut and his idea to use the roll back of President Bush's tax cuts to fund his health care plan.

Senator Barack Obama's willingness to increase taxes to support his health care plan may be the needle that will pop his rising balloon as a very strong candidate for the Democratic Party. The words "tax hike" are like dirty words in a politician's vocabulary. Nobody wants to hear them. Most voters will cast their ballots against a politician that even hints at the possibility of a tax increase.

Senator Obama's campaign managers seem to be well aware of this problem. If you visit the senator's official web site (www.barackobama.com) and click on issues, you will find that he states his positions on immigration, on the war in Iraq, on education, and of course his health care plan. But, nowhere on his web site will you find a reference to how he will fund his ideas. Nowhere will it mention a roll back of tax cuts or anything about a tax increase.

Senator Barack Obama has strong support from the Democratic Party. If he is nominated to be the Democratic Party's candidate for the 2008 Presidential Election, it will definitely be an historic event. But, will he be nominated or will his rising balloon be popped by his willingness to raise taxes for the benefit of the greater good?

References used in the preparation of this article are:

www.barackobama.com

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/05/obama_on_abcs_this_week_with_g.html#more

ABC News program: "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" which aired on Sunday, May 13, 2007

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama