Wash. Post, NY Times let Boehner revive small business tax falsehood

[babylonsister]

Wash. Post, NY Times let Boehner revive small business tax falsehood



Summary: The Washington Post and The New York Times uncritically reported Rep. John Boehner's debunked suggestion that increasing taxes on those making more than $250,000 would cause a large percentage of small businesses to pay higher taxes. In fact, according to the Tax Policy Center, a mere 2 percent of tax returns that reported small business income in 2007 are in the top two income tax brackets, which include all filers with taxable incomes of more than $250,000.

In recent articles, The Washington Post and The New York Times uncritically reported House Minority Leader John Boehner's (R-OH) debunked suggestion that increasing taxes on those making more than $250,000 would cause a large percentage of small businesses to pay higher taxes. The Post reported on February 26 that President Obama's 2010 budget proposal "would reduce the value of tax deductions for families earning more than $250,000 by about 20 percent, according to administration documents." The article reported that Boehner said, "If the tax-deduction cap is enacted, it is likely to hit many small businesses." Likewise, in its February 25 article, the Times uncritically quoted Boehner's statement, "{I}s increasing taxes during an economic recession, especially on small businesses, the right way to accomplish that goal?" Neither the Post nor the Times pointed out that according to the Tax Policy Center's table of 2007 tax returns that reported small business income, 481,000 of those returns -- about 2 percent -- are in the top two income tax brackets, which include all filers with taxable incomes of more than $250,000.

Boehner's unchallenged comments revive a false talking point from the 2008 campaign about then-Sen. Obama's proposal to increase taxes on those making more than $250,000. As Media Matters for America documented, Sen. John McCain falsely claimed that "{i}f you are one of the 23 million small business owners in America who files as an individual rate payer, Senator Obama is going to raise your tax rates."

From the February 26 Washington Post article:

more...

http://mediamatters.org/items/200902260003?f=h_latest

[Abq_Sarah]

1. It's not going to have an impact

On most small business owners other than making sure they don't exceed that 250K in income.