In this election season, entangled as it is with the most confusing and troublesome economic situation in my lifetime, we've heard much from politicians and speechmakers about tax breaks.  One guy wants to give tax breaks to 'everyone,' the other guy wants to make the richest pay more, but everyone else gets a tax break.  The Obama campaign makes much noise about it's 'middle class tax cuts.'  McCain says that giving tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans will be more effective.

The Obama campaign has pointed out - correctly - that McCain has, in two debates now, failed to even say the words 'middle class.'

But what neither candidate has mentioned is the lower class.  The poor.  

In the course of an online discussion of the candidates' tax policy, I had occasion to do a little research and found out something that really knocked my socks off.  I think it will surprise you, too:

Over forty percent of Americans don't have enough income to pay federal income tax.

Let me say that again.

Over forty percent of Americans don't have enough income to pay federal income tax.  

Forty percent.  4 out of every ten people you see walking down the street.  Don't make enough money to meet the minimum requirement for the payment of federal income tax.

Now, maybe I just don't understand high finance...but it seems to me that if you really want to talk about fixing this economy, what we should be talking about is how to get those four people into an income bracket high enough that they would have to pay taxes on their income.  I'm not just talking about a little bump, a little raise; that would actually hurt the economy, because you'd have people paying taxes and ending up keeping less money than they do now at the lower, untaxed level of income.

I think the idea of a tax cut for the middle class is a good move.  It will keep money in pockets, and that money will then be spent or invested, and that helps the economy.

But that solution leaves out nearly half of the people in the US who are 'theoretical taxpayers' - they have income, in many cases they are working, and if their income was high enough they would be contributing to the federal coffers.

This new (to me) information highlights a couple of glaring points.  First of all, our definition of 'poverty' is wrong.  If you can't pay taxes, then as far as I'm concerned you are living in poverty.  You are a drain on the system, a net loss (and for the record, that includes me.)  

Second, we don't just need tax cuts.  We need real wage growth and real job growth.  I would love to pay taxes.  I would love to create jobs so that other people can pay taxes.  But I don't have the resources, and I refuse to believe I'm the only one in this position.  If I could afford to advertise and hire to produce the websites and new media that I specialize in (along with the capital equipment and software investments I would need to make), I'd be paying taxes.  So would my employees.  They'd have health care and vehicles and homes and toys, all of which cost money, all of which adds to the economy.

I am 100% certain that I'm not the only person in this position.  Skilled, qualified, motivated, and intelligent people all over this country are hungry and scraping by at the bottom of the barrel for one reason or another.  For my part, I made some bad decisions when I was young - playing rock star instead of going to college - that have had a major impact on my 'employability.'  Not because I'm not qualified or motivated, but because I don't have the requisite paper to get past the hiring manager in the first place.  That aside, I'm a pretty independent guy - I'd much rather work for 'myself' and put others to work, than work for someone else.  

There's only one thing stopping me, and it has been for most of my life:  money.  Here's where we get back to the subject:  if I could get a job that paid a decent wage, I could afford to live, save, and invest in myself.  There are millions like me - authors and artists and coders and designers and photographers and musicians who can't do what they do best because they can't ever get their feet under them firmly enough to be able to survive doing it.

I'm a bit of an odd duck, and I accept that; I'd much rather have a business partner who could handle that side of things for me and bring funds to the table, and work with them to build my own thing, because that's just me.  But there are millions of others like me who would happily take a decent job if it were out there.  I'd love to work someplace with a solid income and stability for two, three, four years, long enough to save some cash to get myself started, but the jobs just aren't there.  (And I also understand that most employers are reluctant to hire anyone who they think won't stick around, even though most employers have no interest in making the same guarantee to their employees; this is why for me personally I think the better route would be a situation in which I had some cold, hard, cash to get rolling.)

The point is, there are millions of Americans who want to do better; who want to make enough so that they have to pay taxes; who want to build businesses and put others to work as well.  Those Americans have been completely left out of the dialogue of this election season.  

Mr. Obama, Mr. McCain, we don't need your tax breaks.  What we need is real opportunity, whether that's in the form of steadier, higher-paying jobs, or in the form of capital investment.  If we can spend $700 billion to bail out investment banks, why can't we put some of our money to work investing in American ingenuity and drive?  Why can't we use that money to create real jobs?

Gentlemen, you are ignoring four out of every ten Americans...and if we're going to really start fixing this economic crisis, I think the energy and will of The Forgotten Forty is a great place to start investing.