The ASA member shop that is trying to make sense of the presidential candidates tax proposals should visit the Web site http://www.atr.org/. "Americans for Tax Reform is a nonpartisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all tax increases," according to the organization, and in light of all the claims and counterclaims about whose plan will tax who the most, I am declaring my support for this group's position.

The hottest debate over the past week was whether or not "Joe the Plumber" would fare better under the McClain plan or the Obama plan. In the claims and counter claims that followed, it became clear that facts were the most obvious casualty.

I found this information from ATR most revealing:

"According to the IRS Statistics of Income Division, there were about 28 million small business owners in 2006. Almost 3 million of these earned at least the Obama tax hike - triggering $200,000 per year.

"Altogether, these business owners reported $700 billion in profits. And two-thirds of these profits - $470 billion - were earned in the Obama tax hike households. You can't tax 'the rich' without raising taxes on the lion's share of small business profits. Their marginal tax rate could easily exceed 50 percent."

Recognizing that "Joe the Shop Owner" and small business in general are the job creators in our economy, this additional reference will provide some interesting data to compare the opposing tax plans on job creation.

At the Heritage Foundation Web site, http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/wm2105.cfm, the conclusion to the article, "Job Creation from the Obama and McCain Tax Plans: A State-by-State Analysis" (posted Oct. 17, 2008), presents a stark contrast in the effects of the two approaches:

 "The analysis finds that job growth under Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) plan at the national level is more than two times faster than job growth under Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) plan. Table 1 shows the average yearly employment gain that can be expected in each state as a result of McCain's and Obama's tax plans."

I am always skeptical when it comes to tax policy because the proposals we are asked to evaluate never seem to come with any associated plans to stop the wasteful spending that is at the heart of our economic woes. I found information on the ATR Web site to be helpful, and on the face of it, taxing two-thirds of small business profits and reducing job growth by half doesn't bode well for any Joe I know.