CNBC's Bartiromo falsely suggested Obama proposed taxing small businesses' revenue

Written by Jeremy Holden

Published

In claiming that “small businesses ... are putting $250,000 in revenue out there, and they're going to get impacted” under President Obama's proposal to let the Bush tax cuts on wealthy taxpayers expire, CNBC's Maria Bartiromo falsely suggested that Obama has proposed taxing small business revenue. In fact, Obama has proposed raising marginal income tax rates and reducing income tax deductions for individuals earning more than $200,000 per year and for couples earning more than $250,000 per year.

During the February 26 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, CNBC host Maria Bartiromo asserted that among the “unintended consequences” of President Obama's proposal to let the Bush tax cuts on wealthy taxpayers expire is that “the bottom line is small businesses ... are putting $250,000 in revenue out there, and they're going to get impacted, and this is the single largest creator of jobs.” But her suggestion that Obama has proposed taxing small business revenue is false. In fact, Obama has proposed raising marginal income tax rates and reducing income tax deductions for individuals earning more than $200,000 per year and for couples earning more than $250,000 per year. Moreover, Bartiromo's suggestion that doing so would be a tax increase for most small businesses is also false: as Media Matters for America documented, 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 that would be affected.

Bartiromo's suggestion that Obama's proposal would tax the revenues of small business owners advances 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 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 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

WILLIE GEIST (co-host): We're just getting a report that the forecast deficit for $1.75 trillion -- that's 12 percent of GDP, the largest since World War II. And Maria, you have some concerns.

BARTIROMO: Well, I think that it is extraordinary that we are talking about raising taxes in this severe, severe environment. You know, I think Andrea is right by saying people are willing to pay taxes. They recognize that this is an extraordinary moment in time. Having said that, there are such unintended consequences in this.

First of all, charitable contributions, get ready for those to go off a cliff because you are not going to get the tax write-off that you got in terms of, you know, charitable contributions. The next thing: $250,000. Look, the bottom line is small businesses, you know, are putting $250,000 in revenue out there, and they're going to get impacted -- and this is the single largest creator of jobs.