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CNN Thinks Only The Top Five Percent Of
America’s Income Earners Count

http://thinkprogress.org

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

In an interview with former NBA star Charles Barkley today, CNN host Wolf Blitzer discussed the respective tax plans being offered by Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain. This is the on-screen graphic that CNN displayed during the interview, which the network represented as the “average tax bill change”:



The graphic above only displays the “average tax change” on incomes above $161,000 – the top five percent of income earners in the nation. The graphic is therefore deceptive and misleading, as it suggests that McCain’s tax plan offers a greater benefit than Obama’s. In reality, for most Americans, Obama’s tax plan would offer three times the benefit.

Here’s the impact of McCain and Obama’s tax plan on incomes below $161,000 – the part that CNN left out: