The Devil is in the Details

I am a little confused about the math in Obama's plan for America. He states he will give 150 million Americans a refundable tax cut of up to $500. First of all, what exactly does a "refundable" tax cut mean? Are you giving the people a check or not?

At the end of the section where he describes his jumpstart plan it states "Stimulus: 35 billion". Hum, I am pretty certain if you divide 35 billion dollars by 150 million people what you get is $233 and not $500. The calculator on my Google-issued laptop is pretty good, so I am confident my math is correct. So when he says the relief will be "up to $500" he means it. Remember, that could mean $500 or $0. Nobody knows for sure if he will be helping you or not.

If it were truly $500 as marketed then the stimulus would be 75 billion instead. Wow, that is more than twice as much he is really proposing. That is like your boss saying he is going to give you up to a $5,000 raise when in reality he only delivers half that. How would that make you feel? No worries, Obama will fix that as well with his plan for organized labor ;) Stay tuned for my post(s) on that subject.

The American people only hear $500 and that is what they get excited about. Props to him for selling it in this fashion.

These are the types of data points I wish I would hear being debated by popular and influential conservatives versus beating drums over preachers, wives, etc. The devil is in the details. This is where you should be able to get someone ill-informed to think twice about their attraction to him.

Man, this would be a great debate topic. Pin him into the corner on the numbers and have him explain to the people exactly how they benefit. If he ever has the courage to go on Fox News then maybe Chris Wallace will ask him.

Source: Barack Obama's Blueprint for Change