Let's take a quick glance at what the Obama tax relief proposal really was.
The primary premise was that if you are rich, then you would pay more under his tax plan.
If you are a poor or middle-class American, then you would pay less income tax.
President-elect Obama put this proposal before the American public when he was running for office.
He didn't necessarily take into account such economic issues as wars, social programs or the world economy.
President-elect Obama looked at people making over $250,000 and said that he would increase their taxes to 39%, including a 20-28% tax hike on capital gains.
However, one thing that he also included in his tax plan was to tax all income tax brackets (not just income up to $102,000) to fund the Social Security program.
President-elect Obama looked at what the majority of American's earn and proposed tax breaks specifically for them.
There are approximately 95% of Americans who make less than $250,000 and they would get tax relief under Obama's plan.
Taxpayers who do not itemize and make less than $150,000 would get a $500-per-worker tax credit and a $4,000 credit for each of their children in college.
Seniors making less than $50,000 would pay no income tax whatsoever.
This sounds like a wonderful idea, especially for low-income seniors, but it could also result in manufacturers raising their consumer prices because of the higher taxes they have to pay.
Obama's plan contained other tax relief proposals also.
They included leaving the corporate tax rate at 35% and setting the estate tax at 45% for estates above $3.
5 million.
Mr.
Obama and his tax advisors estimated that an additional $700 billion in taxes would be brought into the American economy over the next 10 years if his plan was approved by Congress.
On the other hand, some experts felt that the Obama tax relief plan was highly detrimental to the economy because of its focus on taxing American businesses.
However, since his election into office, American taxpayers received small stimulus packages that were approved by Congress.
It is yet to be determined just how much these checks really impacted the economy.