Wealthy individuals should vote McCain

Richard F. St. John, Las Vegas

Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008 | 2:02 a.m.

Something has been bothering me for a while now. Barack Obama has said that if elected he will raise taxes on the rich and on corporations. Articles I’ve seen have estimated the tax increase to be as much as 5 percent on the wealthiest and 5 percent on corporations. Now, my question is, why are all the entertainment industry elites on such a bandwagon for Obama? Aren’t they considered the rich?

If someone in Hollywood makes a mere $1 million per year, the additional tax could be $30,000 if the increase is only a modest 3 percent. Over eight years that would be more than a quarter-million dollars. Even if they are incorporated they wouldn’t escape the tax increase.

You can plug any name in here you want — Barbra Streisand, Alec Baldwin, Jay Leno, on and on. Just multiply that $30,000 times the number of millions a person makes. I’m not going to complain, because their contributions to the federal Treasury will be greatly appreciated.

But I still wonder if they all think getting Obama elected is going to be worth the tremendous tax burden they will put on themselves. Don’t they all have business managers or CPAs? Are they being advised? As a tax professional myself, I would advise any client who makes more than $500,000 per year to do everything possible to ensure Obama doesn’t get elected. With economic times as they are, $28,500 could be the difference between you and bankruptcy court, or dinner with the candidate.