John McCain has a new ad which does a very effective job of connecting Barack Obama's tax policies to the lives of ordinary Americans.
Dan McLaughlin of RedState explains the effectiveness of the ad.
First, it hits Obama on taxes, hard, and that's a theme that is always an electoral winner for the GOP. Obama's voted for tax hikes and proposed a dizzying array of hikes going forward, including hikes in the income tax, payroll tax, capital gains tax, estate tax, some corporate taxes, carbon taxes, as well as opposing McCain's plans to cut corporate taxes and suspend the gas tax...I'm probably forgetting a few here. Obama responds by intoning that his tax plans aren't aimed at people making less than $250,000, but he can't run from his own votes and, among other things, he hasn't proposed any such limitation on capital gains taxes, which as this ad emphasizes are often paid by older people selling assets to pay for retirement, and he's been evasive on where he intends to set the bar on his proposed payroll tax hikes.
Second, the continuing theme of bashing runaway Obamania is effective because Obama can't stop his supporters from acting like smitten schoolboys and the last thing he wants to spend time doing in mid-campaign is try to tell people not to like him so much.
And third, the ad actually ties the first two together - Obama's gotten so carried away with his own grandeur that he's lost sight of how the cost of all his proposals ideas will hit the people who have to pay for it.
Naturally, those objective journalists at MSNBC have to come to Obama's rescue.
But the ad makes some dubious claims:
1) When it says that Obama voted "to raise taxes on people making just $42,000," that was on a non-binding budget resolution vote that didn't actually raise or lower taxes. From Factcheck.org: "The resolution does not contain a specific provision to raise tax rates, but rather assumes that most of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire as scheduled in 2011."
2) According to Obama's economic plan, he would raise taxes only on those making more than $250,000 per year, and would provide tax cuts to those making less than that. Factcheck.org: "Obama has stated repeatedly that his plan would increase taxes only for those making more than $250,000 per year."
This explanation of Obama's tax policy is deceptive. If a President Obama allowed President Bush's tax cuts to expire, that's a tax increase for middle class taxpayers. It really doesn't matter whether he decides to raise taxes on ordinary citizens with a new bill or by letting old tax cuts expire. Your wallet feels it either way.
The claim that McCain's ad is "dubious" is dubious in itself. And splitting hairs over raising taxes is too risky in a time of economic uncertainty.
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