They're Lying
The debate over the economy swung into high gear today as both presidential candidates gave speeches on the topic. That's as it should be: let this critical debate begin.
What's not okay is that one candidate -- John McCain -- and his team are making up damaging stuff that directly contradicts policies Obama has been crystal clear about.
When it comes to taxes, Obama has drawn a firm line in the sand at $250,000. He cuts taxes for the vast majority of families -- more than 95% -- and raises taxes only on those with incomes above $250,000. Whether its income taxes, payroll taxes, capital gains, or stock dividends, his plan does not raise taxes on anyone below $250,000. He articulated this point today: "...if you're a family making less than $250,000, my plan will not raise your taxes -- not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."
Yet, from McCain's speech today: "If you believe you should pay more taxes, I am the wrong candidate for you. Senator Obama is your man. The choice in this election is stark and simple. Senator Obama will raise your taxes."
His top advisor, Doug Holtz-Eakin released a memo implying Obama would raise taxes on low-income families, those "making as little as $32,000 a year," a claim based on Obama's support for the Senate Democratic Budget resolution which contained no individual tax increases actually cut taxes for middle-class families.
McCain's "Jobs First" economic plan says: "If you are one of the 23 million small business owners in America who files as an individual rate payer, Senator Obama is going to raise your tax rates." But 99% of individuals with small business income make less than $250,000, so they won't see their taxes go up at all. In fact, Senator Obama has proposed a new 0% capital gains rate for small business and start ups -- it's McCain that would continue to tax small business capital gains at 15%.
McCain and Obama have very different economic plans, particularly regarding tax policy (read about them here). They have every right to go forth and build support for their plans and attack the other guy's. But this is not the way to do it. If McCain and his staff persist in twisting the truth like this, there can be no decent debate. It's a terrible disservice to the electorate and an abrogation of anything resembling straight talk.
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I agree with this article 100% and I also agree with most of the bloggers here. But what do we do about it? Can't one of the Huffington journalists or one of the others who see McCain for what he really is send this to some of the other news media? It's high time these lies were exposed so Americans will know what they will be getting if they vote for McCain.
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS PRESIDENT OBAMA!!
That's how he got his name of McSame.
Glad you called John McCain what he is a liar. But the sheep of America ie the low information voter will only hear Obama = higher taxes. They won't have the sense to find out about who's taxes Obama will really be raising, and that it's aimed at people over 250K per year. No these are the sheep that always vote Republican, and against their own interest. It's just like the seniors that support McCain and might end up losing their Social Security. These are the people that only listen to sound bites and vote on what a well known Liar has said. The Dems need to clarify Obama's platform and "dumb it down" for these people if they want their votes.
Someone please tell me how I can get in touch with Barack Obama personally and advise him that many of his surrogates seem to HAVE NO SPINE. I watch these guys and I can only think my goodness, this is the person Obama sent out to defend a position? I watched NY1 last night and I was disgusted with the performance of the Dem consultants. There has to be a reason why they are not being more aggressive and I really need to know ,so someone help me please to understand.
Help me.
Many people identified as strategists or consultants are merely paid commentators for the network. They usually have some background in politics for the party they "represent" , but they are as likely chosen for their glibness and presence on camera as for the political knowledge.
Their misunderstanding of confidence level, margin of error, rolling average and other basics of polls while 'analyzing" them betray their lack of any significant campaign experience. Often I hear a so-called strategist even mistake strategy for tactics.
Networks would be more honest if they just called them Demorcatic or Rupublican commentators.
Wow, you mean Republicans have nothing on their side but fear, hate, racism...a
What a surprise. I'm flabbergasted. Republican
While it comes as no surprise to you, the sad truth is, due to a media that is performing at criminally incompetent levels, much of America is still operating on myths coming from Ronnie Reagan --Repugs are good guys who want you to keep more of "your money" Dems are big gubmint tax and spend 'librals.'
The press needs to be overturned.
We all spend more time on what some Repub said than what some Dem said . Why is that ?
Because we've been so brainwashed by our government and media that we don't know any better. But if more people "wake up", we will eventually get out from under and start "thinking for ourselves" once again.
Because Repugs lied us into a war...that might be one reason. Oh, I forgot. Iraq is a success. --Yet another right-wing Repug lie, but then again reality is a commodity with which the GOP has little association.
The Republican practice the politics of distraction. The Dems waste too much time defending the lies then they don't counteract them. Evey time it happens they have to call the Repubs on their lies.
John McCain is a typical Republican. When they move their lips, they're lying.
What else can we expect? Standard policy.
I agree totally with you April, he may need to pull some of Hillary's old pundits or surrogates, if I can say one good thing about them is that they have no conscious when it comes to the Media, they truly have "balls" and will tell it like it is with a little spice.
But he definetly needs a stronger Media team, no doubt about it, Gibbs, Axelrod, Plouffe are good guys but are more suited for the "backstage" he needs some strong voices out their going to bat for him against the GOP attacks and lies.
He needs a media team which recognizes that the media are not on his side, they are on McCain's side. He needs a media team which recognizes that most voters won't pay attention to more than a 4-word sound bite. And for God's sake, he needs a media team which recognizes that no, the American people are NOT too smart to believe the lies. How many Democratic losses is it going to take before this party wakes up and stops playing by the same playbook that keeps losing elections?
Bill Clinton won twice NOT because he was a centrist, or ran to the right, but because of his charisma. But this party has never realized that, and keeps trying to out-right the Republicans and losing every time.
Obama needs a stronger media team that IS more assertive and more demanding.
Exactly, April! Ugh. I remember during the primaries, the minute any reporter, pundit, O surrogate/supporter made a claim their camp felt was unfair, untrue, Howard Wolfson was on the phone to MSNBC within minutes, demanding time to refute. It's beyond frustrating to hear McCain surrogates spreading these lies w/o a strong, swift rebuttal from team O. To Jared's salient point. Last night on Hardball some Mc C supporter was on there spewing this nonsense that O will be raising taxes on those making 30,000, while in fact, no one making 250,000 or less will see ANY increase in their taxes, none! Matthews is supposedly a journalist, up to speed on the candidates positions, yet there he sat last night SILENT, and worse still, Mudcat Saunders, formerly of the Edwards campaign and now an O supporter, didn't say a word to counter the bold faced lie. Where is the MSM,, the O camp, in responding to these lies?!
Agreed the Dems act too timid and try to be too above board. When you are fighting an opponent you have to be on an equal playing field. If they fight dirty you must also.
So true! The best are Linda Douglass ( his PR person) and Dr Susan Rice. Those women DO NOT PLAY. He needs more of them!
I tend to agree with you there. They are taking a lot of unnecessary hits with absolutely NO RESPONSE from his team to the contrary. People have short memories some times and tend to believe what hits them first. And with m-ccain, if he says it enough, some people will feel he is telling the truth. Obama's team is not "spot one" on their game to counteract these lies and unfound charges. And the pundits are freely allowing a one-sided debate on the issue. It's not like Chriss Matthews didn't know Obama's position yesterday when he allowed the opposing side to espouse their views against Obama. You would think that Chris would have said they were wrong if he were fair. That's why I don't like him like I do Keith Olbermann. Keith is alwas "right on point" and Chris teeters both sides for media points. How sad and unfair that is.
The McCain camp has been spreading lies about all of Obama's positions. I thank you and keep up the good work I'm sure their will be more to come. You guys should start a link through Huffington and call it " keeping them honest " so we the bloggers who follow the campaigns can weigh in with the truth.
I personally am getting tired of the bold face lies, it shows no integrity on the McCain side and I don't think it is him personally it is the new hacks that just joined his team. They'll put anything out their to see if it sticks like the latest statement from Obama when he said "Refine my positions" on the Iraq War. Tried to make something out of nothing, but this wasn't so bad, the lies' on his positons however is pathetic, it shows weakness and desperation.
The truly amazing thing is that Mr. Bernstein and so many others still actually write stuff like this, as if they are just now discovering that the Republiucans are liars. Folks, that is what the Repugs do. They lie.
They have used lying as a tool, and very effectively, for the last two decades. Yes- Rove, Bush, Cheney, Condiment, Rumsey and others may have perfected the technique, but lying has long been the tool of that party in its efforts to win, at all costs.
I remember a moment when Kerry was campaigning and, thinking the microphone was dead, expressed his frustration with the Repugs, saying something to his colleague like - "Jeezzz, these people will say anything", as if he was just then realizing it. He was right, of course, but I remember being shocked at his ignorance of the Repugs' capacity for skulduggery.
Folks, you anin't seen nothin', yet. Their just now getting started, and this "straight talker" garbage that the MSM has applied to McCain - forget it. It's just another lie.
Good idea about that link "keeping them honest". Huffington would definitely be doing a great service to the community if they did such a thing. Yes, it's a sin and a shame the way the repugs can lie and get away with it. Absolutely no actions are taken to make sure they tell the truth. And the media backs them 100% for media hype and points. The truth doesn't seem to mean a darn thing to the MSM. And that seems to be so unsacred.
This is shaping up to be the most tragically childish, nonsensical excuse for an election season EVER.
The Big Picture:
If a Democrat has to promise to cut taxes it means the Republicans have won.
Does that statement even mean anything?
Thank you for saying it so clearly: McCain in lying.
He's not misinformed, or misled, or misunderstood.
He didn't misspeak.
He deliberately lied, deliberately misled Americans.
McCain in lying.
He's lying.
He pretends to be honest and trustworthy, but he is LYING. If that is his strategy for beating Obama, outright lying, then Americans deserve to hear about it. The last thing we need is a president who lies to us.
Maybe he thinks we're used to it by now. If you count the run-up to the election, we've been lied to for more than eight years. He really is running for Bush's third term!
The mainstream news media must have given its fact-checkers off for the summer.
The McCain camp is free to feed its message and have its version passed by talking heads with no critical examination. The media is clearly biased in favor of its McCain/Rove handlers.
This story is a prime example of lies being repeated and made "true" because the audience assumes the facts have been vetted by legitimate news organizations.
The news media should be ashamed of itself.
The traditional media hasn't had fact checkers in over a decade. They go by truthiness now, not fact verification.
Fact checking was the original assault on the media back into Reagan days.
They labelled it "injecting 'OPINION' into reporting and howled that it must be stopped. All "sides" must be presented equally.
The whole point was to eliminate the distinction between opinion and fact and it worked many years ago. Aided by the increased corporatization and consolidation of media.
Think about it, the media have had audio/video replay technology since the 1920's. But it didn't begin to be used to any important degree in political discourse till somebody invented a scheme for ordinary people to do it (Youtube).
The mainstream media were never going to do that.
I believe that you are misinformed about when the media had audio/video replay technology. I think you need to add about 50 years to your start date.
12 years prove to me that the GOP cannot manage an economy.
Nor can they manage the value of the dollar.
I will take "I dunno" over sure destruction of the US economy and the total devaluation of the dollar.
Those are taxes I just don't want to pay.
Given that Obama wants to initiate a number of new socialist redistribution plans, and offers no corresponding cuts to spending, his tax increases on only those making $250k or more is ludricrous. Anyone who believes it is a fool. Further, the ending of the Bush rebate is a tax increase we'll all pay. The lies are on the Left.
And, don't forget that he has long supported a one-time tax on retirement savings. Yeah, that's the actual money you've already paid taxes on!
Semper fi
semper fraud - dude
Obama merely wants to restate the progressive tax that existed during the 50 years of ecconomic expansion in America
maybe you should try recording Rush next time to get the talking points straight
I work at night, rarely listening to Rush, who by the way is right. The progressive tax successes you refer to were nowhere near what Obama is suggesting. Under the current Democrats, fewer of the poor and middle class will be paying income taxes. What you speak of 50 years ago was a much fairer tax, whereby almost everyone paid something in income taxes. Further, there were far fewer "rich" folks around than now, which is probably apropos of nothing to this conversation.
Semper fi
So how is it different from the redistribution the GOP has been doing for the last 25 years?
In the GOP version, the poor and middle class give money to the rich.
In the Dem version, the rich give money to the middle class and poor.
Middle class, those making less than $250K, by BO definition.
So money is ALWAYS being redistibuted. The question is, which way do YOU want it to go?
You know that number 250K, it's misleading. The fact is the middle class, those making a lot less than 250K will be taxed. They'll be taxed through social security. They'll be taxed heavily on any profits from investments. Obama is not going to stop taxing. And we're only hearing about what he's admitting to now. No doubt, he'll "refine" his tax agenda. If he gets elected, the middle class and the rich will practically be taxed for the air they breath. He has to tax to pay for all handouts he's promised.
Nope, the lies are on the right, as they've always been.
When the left ran the country we had very high top end taxes on individuals and businesses, and we became the global superpower. We created our first comfortable middle class in the entire industrial age, and the rest of the developed world that took off from our ideas also built their own comfortable middle classes.
We turned conservative and cut back those taxes and now all those other countries have better standards of living, better health care --jeez their poor now live longer than our rich.
The right ran everything, everything is now in tatters.
We went through this in the Gilded Age, we tried it again after WW1 till the Depression, and we tried it after Vietnam.
The definition of insanity is following Republican policies again and again and expecting a different result.
First, to claim that his plan will harm us all is STUPID, since we've already seen how our infrastructure (both physical, i.e. BRIDGES and non physical, i.e. EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE) is collapsing, and the only way to fix that is to make those in the top 5% PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE!
Second, to claim that people are going to be double taxed on their retirement plans ONLY under Obama..... Let's see, if it's a 401(k) then it is COMPLETELY untaxed UNTIL you withdraw from it. If it's an IRA it's taxed, and then the INCREASES are not taxed. However, no matter WHICH plan you use, you are taxed on it, AS INCOME, when you start to withdraw from them as you retire!! I don't know if a one time tax would be better or worse, but to claim that right now, and under McBush you WON'T be paying taxes on retirement, but you WILL be paying taxes under Obama.....
You say that Obama's plan is a redistribution plan. But for the past 8 years there has been redistribution of wealth in this country. The wealth has gone from the middle class and been redistributed up. For the past 8 years, taxes have been regressive. What Obama will do is add fairness back into the tax code by making taxes more progressive.
And you say tax increases on those making 250 K is ridculous. But under Bush, for the past 8 years, those people have probably paid less in taxes than the average American making $50,000 a year. Hell, Warren Buffet has said he pays less in taxes than his secretary. It's time for those people, the people making a comfortable living to pay their fair share. It's more than past time.
And as far as McCain lying about this. It doesn't surprise me. He has no integrity or character. And haven't we saw enough of a man in the WhiteHouse with no character? Look at Bush. Do we really want more of the same. Look where it's gotten us.
What you are laying out is a need for reform of the tax system, to a system whereby everyone pays an equal percentage of their income. A graduated system with a ton of exemptions is the reason why the rich are able to avoid paying some of their taxes. Perfectly legal. I don't make nearly enough to qualify as rich, or even wealthy, but I take advantage of every exemption I can as I itemize my taxes.
The wealthy, those making over 150K, pay the lion's share of taxes in this country. Not the poor. The poor generally pay a pittance in comparison. What hurts are the Social Security taxes, which the Democrats will not abide to be reformed, and Medicare taxes, which again, the Democrats block.
Semper fi
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