Ethics

McCain's Tax Credit Doublespeak

By Ed Brayton

Jonathan Cohn nails McCain's ridiculous doubletalk about tax credits at the New Republic blog. Here's the first statement McCain made in a campaign speech:

You might ask: How do you cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans, when more than 40 percent pay no income taxes right now? How do you reduce the number zero? Well, that's the key to Barack Obama's whole plan: Since you can't reduce taxes on those who pay zero, the government will write them all checks called a tax credit. And the Treasury will have to cover those checks by taxing other people, including a lot of folks just like Joe. In other words, Barack Obama's plan to raise taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut; it's just another government giveaway.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on October 21, 2008 (boomark / email).