Sep 14th, 2008 at 9:50 am
McCain: I’ll Cut Taxes for Everybody
John McCain said yesterday that he’d go beyond promising to avoid raising taxes on anyone making less than $250,000: “Not only that, I’m going to cut taxes for literally everybody.”
It’s too bad John McCain doesn’t seem to be familiar with John McCain’s health care proposals which involve a large tax increase on everyone who gets health insurance through an employer. For the rich, this will be offset by some of McCain’s other tax cuts, but for middle class families it’ll be an increase. McCain also might want to check out the views of John McCain’s top economic adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin since he seems to think McCain will raise taxes.
27 Responses to “McCain: I’ll Cut Taxes for Everybody”
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September 14th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Everything you just wrote needs to be in an Obama ad, with the announcer saying point-blank “John McCain is lying to you. Again. Can’t he tell the truth about anything?”
September 14th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Is he going to balance the budget too? And maybe a couple of wars?
September 14th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Is McCain going to get me a pony, too? He sounds like a drunken sailor on shore leave.
September 14th, 2008 at 11:18 am
He sounds like a drunken sailor on shore leave.
What McCain sounds like is a feverishly ambitious old man with the wispy beginnings of dementia.
September 14th, 2008 at 11:20 am
What’s even more unfortunate is that all politicians – from all sides – are avoiding the main issue, which is non-discretionary spending. Starting in about 2012, it’s going to literally start eating the budget, and eventually lead to the destruction of Medicare, Social Security (etc). We simply cannot afford these programs on a demographic basis. And no, cutting defense (even to zero) won’t matter. If you don’t buy this, you don’t buy math. Sadly, lots of people in this country don’t buy math…
September 14th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I wonder if James Robertson excoriated Bush for refusing to consider a funding source for the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit.
I’m guessing “No”. (Reason: he lumps Medicare and Social Security in with the 2012 date.)
September 14th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
James Robertson, consummate moron, once again lumps the fiscally healthy Social Security in with the medical spending that is going through the roof as a result of our horrible patchwork of payment providers (combined with Bush’s massive giveaway to the drug companies).
Listen fuckwit (that would be you James), Social Security is in surplus. The General Fund is in deficit. Which one should be of greater concern?
Are there no Republicans with so much as a room temperature IQ?
September 14th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Aside from the huge health insurance huge tax increase, the McCain campaign’s official proposal does *not* cut everyone’s taxes. I believe on the order of 100,000,000 filers would get nothing, zero, nada.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/23482.html
McCain’s claim is undisputably false.
Steve Labonn said plus I think LIE in big read letters should be stamped on the screen after the video of McCain making the claims.
I’d say the guys at the TPC should run the numbers of how many people (or families) with income under $ 250,000 will have a net tax increase under McCain’s proposals (would be hard but to get a broad range where the lowest number isn’t zero should be possible).
Oh and a tax calculator how about a tax calculator ? Fill in a form and get what you pay under the McCain plan and under the Obama plan ? That would be cool.
September 14th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
The health care proposal would not be a tax increase on the middle class. The typical middle class family pays $12,000 in medical benefits and would receive a $5000 credit. Taxes on that $12,000 would be about $3000, putting that family $2000 in the black.
September 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
What people don’t recognize is that to argue that social security is ‘in trouble’ or some such, is equivalent to arguing that our society is too poor to prevent having masses of unemployed elderly living in poverty. If our economy is generating the goods and services necessary to provide for the unemployed elderly, than social security is a scheme to insure they get those goods and services. If our economy is not producing sufficient goods and services, no alternative savings scheme will provide said goods.
Regarding medicare/aid, it is true that costs have been going up quite rapidly. But we should expect, as our economy advances, that more and more of our wealth is spent on health care. After all, a bigger TV doesn’t do you any good if you dead. So just because our spending on health care is increasing as a percentage our of net GDP, this does not mean we have a crisis. Just a readjustment of priorities. It’s a solvable problem at least.
September 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Even if your analysis is correct Mario, there is the fact that McCain’s plan is fundamentally stupid.
“Here’s some money to pay a tax you never had before!”
What happens if my plan’s “value” goes up faster than inflation?
“Well, then you are going to pay more taxes, we can’t coddle you forever you know.”
Isn’t this more complications to the tax code?
“We’re for complicating the tax code this time.”
How is this actually better than what we had before?
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
This isn’t a health care plan, it’s what my friend used to call an AMF-YOYO – Adios Mother Fucker, You’re On Your Own.
September 14th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
According to an analyst, “The most promising way to move forward in all three dimensions – coverage, cost, and long-run fiscal situation – is to replace the employer exclusion with a tax credit.” He describes that under this plan the “workers would now have to include employer contributions to health insurance in their earnings for the purpose of calculating taxes. [...] In exchange for, workers who purchased qualifying insurance would get a refundable tax credit.”
That analyst? None other than Jason Furman, Obama’s Economic Policy Director. It really is a very good plan, and with very minor additions (discussed in the paper), it is the best way to reform our health care system. I just wish people would stop lying about it.
September 14th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
“I wonder if James Robertson excoriated Bush for refusing to consider a funding source for the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit.”
I was opposed to the whole plan. And the commenter who said that Social Security is healthy is innumerate. It’s pretty much the definition of a Ponzi scheme, and we’re getting very, very close to the point where the rats (Congress) will start to panic.
November 29th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The family of a man who was hit and killed by a CSX train last month after he wandered off from a Kanawha City nursing home filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the facility on Monday. In a lawsuit filed in Kanawha
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