October 2, 1992 HOW MUCH WILL MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS HAVE TO PAY UNDER BILL CLINTON Bill Clinton is misleading the American people about where he is going to get the revenue he says he needs. Clinton also has not explained how he will pay for his hundreds of billions of dollars in unfunded spending promises. o Clinton is misleading the American people: the real "top 2%" of taxpayers include those earning far less than what Clinton claims. Bill Clinton has said that his record-breaking $150 billion tax hike will only hit those making at least $200,000, or the top 2 percent of American taxpayers. He needs help with his math. -- According to the Internal Revenue Service, the top 2 percent of American taxpayers actually starts with individuals earning $64,800 in taxable income -- far below Clinton's $200,000 claim. o To meet his own tax revenue goal of $150 billion, Clinton will have to raise taxes to 36% on individuals with taxable incomes starting at $36,600 a year. Clinton's plan calls for $150 billion in new taxes (including revenue from personal income tax increases). According to Clinton, a large portion of the $150 billion would be generated by improving collection of taxes on foreign companies operating in the U.S. -- However, Clinton has grossly over-stated how much revenue could be collected from such a tax, a fact demonstrated recently by the Democrat-controlled Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. -- Thus, to cover this phony revenue and still meet his $150 billion revenue goal, Clinton will have to raise taxes to 36% starting with individuals with taxable incomes of 36,600. o But there's more -- Clinton has hundreds of billions of dollars more in promises that he has not funded: Guess where he will get the money to fund them? $150 billion is only Clinton's advertised amount of new revenue. Clinton has also made hundreds of billions of dollars worth of unfunded promises. To generate revenue to cover just a portion of these promises, Clinton would have to start his tax increase with taxable income as low as $20,100. o Clinton's higher taxes would hit middle income Americans hardest: Under higher Clinton taxes, a steamfitter earning $40,000 a year would face a tax increase of $1,088; a scientist earning $55,000 a year would pay $2,072 more; two sales representatives filing a joint return and earning $58,000 a year would pay $1,191 more; and a housing lender earning $55,000 a year would pay $2,072 more. # # #