Obama is most certainly not proposing a tax increase for those "at or near the top half" of American taxpayers.  Obama's tax plan has no income tax increase for any individual earning less than $200,000, nor any family earning less than $250,000.  So only the top 2% of earners, not the "top half" would see a tax increase.  And the increases would be modest-- the top marginal tax rate would be increased from 35% to 39.6%.

Obama's tax plan tax would cut taxes for 95% of workers and their families.  Obama's tax plan also includes many tax cuts and tax credits that could benefit small entrepreneours such as independent abstractors.  His tax plan would eliminate the capital gains tax for small businesses, which would benefit any abstractor who owns their office and will eventually realize a capital gain when they seek to sell that property.  For independent abstractors who provide health insurance to their employees, the Obama plan includes a 50% tax credit to small businesses on employee premiums paid by the employer.

Obama's tax plan is here.  If we're going to talk about politics on this title industry board, let's at least talk about the candidates' actual proposals and how they affect the small entrepreneurs that make up the bulk of the participants here.