Feb 2, 2010

Anti admin ‘backdoor tax’ news story pulled after a few hours

A Reuters news story titled: Advisory: Backdoor taxes to hit middle class has been pulled by Reuters with the following note:

The story about backdoor taxes to hit middle class has been withdrawn. A replacement story will run later in the week.

Was the article pulled after pressure from the Obama administration or did the pro-Obama management at Reuters kill the report on their own?

The gist of the article is shown below:

The Obama administration's plan to cut more than $1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade relies heavily on so-called backdoor tax increases that will result in a bigger tax bill for middle-class families.

In the 2010 budget tabled by President Barack Obama on Monday, the White House wants to let billions of dollars in tax breaks expire by the end of the year -- effectively a tax hike by stealth.

While the administration is focusing its proposal on eliminating tax breaks for individuals who earn $250,000 a year or more, middle-class families will face a slew of these backdoor increases.

The targeted tax provisions were enacted under the Bush administration's Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. Among other things, the law lowered individual tax rates, slashed taxes on capital gains and dividends, and steadily scaled back the estate tax to zero in 2010.

If the provisions are allowed to expire on December 31, the top-tier personal income tax rate will rise to 39.6 percent from 35 percent. But lower-income families will pay more as well: the 25 percent tax bracket will revert back to 28 percent; the 28 percent bracket will increase to 31 percent; and the 33 percent bracket will increase to 36 percent. The special 10 percent bracket is eliminated.

The full article can be found at the link below. If the link goes dead, you will know the Obama administration was successful in getting the story pulled from KETK.

Link

The killed Reuters article notice is here.