"98 percent of Americans got a tax cut last year"

For 98% of Americans, your taxes dropped, plain and simple. And for those who think the GOP is the tax cut party, the party of 'No' voted as a block, against these cuts.

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What Happened in 2009?

One third of the Recovery Act was made up of tax credits, the White House emphasizes.

"No one I've met is looking for a handout," Mr. Obama said in his address Saturday. "And that's not what these tax cuts are. Instead, they're targeted relief to help middle class families weather the storm, to jumpstart our economy, and to bring the fundamentals of the American Dream -- making an honest living, earning an education, owning a home, and raising a family -- back within reach for millions of Americans."

The credits included:

* An increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit
* An expansion of the Child Tax Credit
* For those who work, the Making Work Pay tax credit offered $400 per individual and $800 per couple
* For those who lost their job, there was a 65 percent tax credit to help cover the cost of health care. The first $2,400 in unemployment benefits went tax-free
* Up to $2,500 under the American Opportunity Credit for students and parents paying for college tuition
* $8,000 for first-time home buyers
* A deduction of state and local taxes paid on a new car
* Up to $1,500 for home improvements to increase energy efficiency

Even conservative advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform, which advocates for a single, national flat tax rate, found some praise for the Recovery Act -- specifically for provisions allowing small businesses to write off a wider range of business expenses.

More generally, "all tax relief has the minimum value of depriving the government of revenue," Americans for Tax Reform's tax policy director Ryan Ellis said.

Posted for those who care about turth and reality!

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