Doing Taxes? Your Refund Probably Bigger--Because of Obama

As the deadline for filing federal income taxes approaches, you'll probably be hearing a lot from the teabaggers about the terrible burden of increased taxes under President Obama.

Don't believe it, because it's a lie like everything else they scream.

Thanks to the recovery act passed a year ago (and opposed by Rep. Mike Rogers) 95 percent of Americans got a tax cut. Yes, a tax cut.

The recovery act contained a cut in federal income taxes that will amount to as much as $800 a year for a married couple. That's a real cut, and you probably have been receiving it throughout the year as your withholding rate was cut. And if you bought a home you probably took advantage of either the first time home buyers tax credit of up to $8,000 or the long-term home owner's credit of $6,500.

But there are more. There also is a a tax credit of up to $2,500 for college expenses for you or your child. Did you make energy improvements to your home -- 30 percent of the cost, up to $1,500, is available in a tax credit.

If you bought a new vehicle, the sales tax and other fees are tax deductible, for a vehicle costing up to $49,500.

If you received unemployment benefits, the first $2,400 were exempt from taxes last year, thanks to the recovery act.

And a $1,000 per child tax credit was made available for more families.

The savings can up to thousands pretty quickly. If you want to see how the recovery act applies to you, visit this Obama site.

And remember, these are tax cuts that Mike Rogers opposed.