On the July 9 broadcast of his radio program, Sean Hannity falsely claimed that Sen. Barack Obama's proposal “for rescinding the Bush tax cuts” would result in “families of four that make $50,000 a year ... paying another $2,000 in taxes a year.” In fact, Obama has proposed rolling back President Bush's tax cuts only on “people who are making 250,000 dollars a year or more,” and cutting taxes for families at the middle-class income level Hannity described.

Hannity asked a caller, who claimed to be an Obama supporter: “Do you support his [Obama's] economic plan of raising taxes?” When the caller stated that for “people like myself and in the middle class, our taxes won't be raised,” Hannity responded: "[S]ir, for -- no, that's not factual, because the Bush tax cuts are going to expire, and when they expire, families of four that make $50,000 a year are going to be paying another $2,000 in taxes a year. So by letting those tax cuts expire, that's a tax increase by any definition." After the caller responded, “that's a misnomer. You're not representing his position properly,” Hannity replied: “I'm not going to argue with you. It is a fact. He is for rescinding the Bush tax cuts and letting them expire.” When the caller again tried to respond, Hannity abruptly ended the call.

However, as Media Matters for America has noted, an analysis of the candidates' tax plans by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center (TPC) found that “Senator Obama offers much larger tax breaks to low- and middle-income taxpayers” than Sen. John McCain. According to Obama's Tax Fairness Plan, he “will provide $80-85 billion in tax relief to America's workers, seniors, and homeowners.” Obama's proposed tax cuts include “a new 'Making Work Pay' tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family,” a “universal mortgage credit” which “will provide the average recipient with approximately $500 per year in tax savings,” and the “eliminat[ion]” of “all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year.”

According to the TPC analysis, under Obama's tax proposals, tax filers in the middle quintile -- those earning between $37,595-$66,354 annually -- would receive an average tax cut of $1,042 in 2009 and an average tax cut of $2,136 in 2012. TPC further noted that those figures represent “an average cut equal to 2.4 percent of income” in 2009 and “an average tax cut equal to 4.6 percent of income” in 2012. From the Tax Policy Center analysis:

From the July 9 edition of ABC Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show:

CALLER 2: I'm absolutely for cracking down on drug dealers, but I also don't think a lot of people understand what else he's going to do. He's going to raise your taxes across the board, he's going to raise taxes -- that's his economic plan, that's the only thing I have heard from Barack Obama -- economic plan. He's going to pull out of Iraq immediately or he's flip-flopped on that here this past week, but when it's starting to work. It's starting to be more stable in Iraq to the point where we can even sit down with the Iraqi government and look at a timetable to bring the troops back home and Iraq can take over their own support and have their own government and own democracy, which was the original goal.

I want to know what Barack Obama's going to do about Afghanistan. The Taliban is becoming more resurgent again, and what's he going to do about that? What's his plan for that? Is he going to pull out -- out of Afghanistan too? He has said “no,” but we don't have a clear plan of, well -- how are you going to handle Iran -- “Well, I'm going to sit and talk to them.” Talk to them about what? The fact that they want nuclear weapons? I mean, what is he going to talk to them about? What is he going to say to Iran to keep them from cutting off the gas line? What is he gonna do about gas prices right now? He's -- his plan, the only thing I can see is to, in the future, get off oil, get off oil well that's great but what are you going to do about right now? The gas is at four dollars, even higher than that --

HANNITY: You've raised a lot of good points here, Katie. Dallas, is there, is there anything that you could point to where he's going to lower gas prices? Do you support his economic plan of raising taxes?

CALLER 1: Well that -- that --

HANNITY: Do you support his -- do you support his earlier position of a pull out of Iraq in 16 months? Do you support that?

CALLER 1: OK, well, first, that's actually not accurate --

HANNITY: What's not accurate?

CALLER 1: He's not going to raise taxes for everybody. Some people --

HANNITY: Well no, actually he is. He's raising --

CALLER 1: People like -- people like myself and in the middle class, our taxes won't be raised.

HANNITY: Sir --

CALLER 1: And that's factual.

HANNITY: -- sir, for -- no, that's not factual, because the Bush tax cuts are going to expire, and when they expire, families of four that make $50,000 a year are going to be paying another $2,000 in taxes a year. So by letting those tax cuts expire, that's a tax increase by any definition.

CALLER 1: That's -- that's -- that's a misnomer. You're not representing his position properly.

HANNITY: All right, listen, I can't -- I can't argue -- listen -

CALLER 1: He's going to raise taxes for the --

HANNITY: Dallas, I'm not going to argue with you. It is a fact. He is for rescinding the Bush tax cuts --

CALLER 1: That's not true. You're lying -- you're not being --

HANNITY: -- and letting them expire. All right, well, anyway, thanks for the call. Katie, thank you, appreciate it, appreciate you being with us, 800-941-SEAN is our toll-free telephone number.

Zachary Aronow is an intern at Media Matters for America.