OBAMA BETTER THAN CLINTON ON TAXES

Well, he's better from my point of view because he gets to the fundamental unfairness of the tax code.

Obama Tax Plan Targets Equality, Clinton Eyes Conduct (Update1)
By Alison Fitzgerald and Matthew Benjamin

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both propose significant changes to the tax code that would add to its complexity. His plan emphasizes income inequality, while hers seeks to change Americans' behavior.

Obama's proposal would shift the tax burden further toward the rich from low- and middle-income workers.

Both candidates would allow President George W. Bush's tax cuts to expire for workers in the top two tax brackets and set the estate-tax rate at 45 percent with a $7 million exemption. Obama wants tax rates on capital gains and dividends to rise from the current 15 percent rate to perhaps as high as 28 percent, the rate under former President Ronald Reagan.

The centerpiece of Obama's tax plan is a $1,000 tax cut for workers that would cost more than $80 billion annually and effectively eliminate all taxes for about 10 million low-income Americans.

The Illinois senator would also offset the cost of his cuts by raising the income cap on payroll taxes and eliminating ``corporate loopholes,'' including one that allows executives of hedge funds and private-equity firms to pay a 15 percent capital- gains rate on most of their income rather than the 35 percent regular income-tax rate, and by cracking down on overseas tax havens.