I was surprised to see an ad by McCain suggesting that Obama would raise taxes for the middle class, particularly because I hadn’t seen anything in Obama’s tax policy that would remotely suggest this. I don’t think anyone should be cutting taxes (the government is already spending far more money than it has, and has run up a staggering, record-breaking debt over the last 8 years), but it didn’t seem to make sense.
That is because, in the words of the non-partisan FactCheck.org, “These ads continue what’s become a pattern of misrepresentation by the McCain campaign about his opponent’s tax proposals.”
What’s the real story? The chart to the right says it all.
In other words, I can fully understand why, if your income exceeds $2 million annually, you would want to elect McCain. Otherwise, the tax issue should really be moot: you’ll get a very modest tax break from McCain (as compared to Obama) if you are among the nation’s richest 20%, and pay less under Obama, if you are not. In other words, if you’ve benefited from Bush’s deep cuts for the very wealthy, you’ll now be expected to pay more of your share to your country.
It used to be that a Republican vote was a vote for fiscal responsibility–a policy I could sympathize greatly with. Unfortunately, they fell into their rhetoric, and became the party of “borrow and spend.” I wish I could say that the Democrats have taken on the policies of small, efficient government, but really they have remained in roughly the same place while Republican spending has skyrocketed.
I will admit to have been a bit of a fan of McCain at one point. I like open, transparent honesty. I could overlook his fighting against MLK day, and even his position on abortion because I knew he was shooting from the hip. (This is also the reason I am untroubled by Biden’s tendency to speak before self-censoring.) But he has allowed his campaign to become over-run by people who are willing to lie to get him elected, and that suggests–at the very least–that he is a weak leader and unable to control his own campaign staff.
Tax and lie
I was surprised to see an ad by McCain suggesting that Obama would raise taxes for the middle class, particularly because I hadn’t seen anything in Obama’s tax policy that would remotely suggest this. I don’t think anyone should be cutting taxes (the government is already spending far more money than it has, and has run up a staggering, record-breaking debt over the last 8 years), but it didn’t seem to make sense.
That is because, in the words of the non-partisan FactCheck.org, “These ads continue what’s become a pattern of misrepresentation by the McCain campaign about his opponent’s tax proposals.”
What’s the real story? The chart to the right says it all.
In other words, I can fully understand why, if your income exceeds $2 million annually, you would want to elect McCain. Otherwise, the tax issue should really be moot: you’ll get a very modest tax break from McCain (as compared to Obama) if you are among the nation’s richest 20%, and pay less under Obama, if you are not. In other words, if you’ve benefited from Bush’s deep cuts for the very wealthy, you’ll now be expected to pay more of your share to your country.
It used to be that a Republican vote was a vote for fiscal responsibility–a policy I could sympathize greatly with. Unfortunately, they fell into their rhetoric, and became the party of “borrow and spend.” I wish I could say that the Democrats have taken on the policies of small, efficient government, but really they have remained in roughly the same place while Republican spending has skyrocketed.
I will admit to have been a bit of a fan of McCain at one point. I like open, transparent honesty. I could overlook his fighting against MLK day, and even his position on abortion because I knew he was shooting from the hip. (This is also the reason I am untroubled by Biden’s tendency to speak before self-censoring.) But he has allowed his campaign to become over-run by people who are willing to lie to get him elected, and that suggests–at the very least–that he is a weak leader and unable to control his own campaign staff.
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