Wednesday, October 29, 2008

McCain's Socialist Tax Nonsense

I'm sitting here listening to McCain talking to Larry King about how he has the temerity to call Obama's rollbax of the Bush tax cut "socialism."

Larry asks him, "aren't all taxes redistributing income?"

"No," McCain says, "taxes are for the government, but what Obama wants to do is take money from one group and give it to another."

Huh? What Obama wants to do is return the top tax rate to what it was under Clinton, while lowering taxes for middle-income Americans. How is that taking money from one group and giving it to another, if all taxes aren't that? "It's dramatically different," spouts McCain. "Obama wants to redistribute! That's socialism! Let him admit it!"

But when Bush lowered taxes on corporations and the rich, while middle-class Americans had to pay more in property taxes, health care, and energy costs, that wasn't redistributing income? Just look at the figures: more income has been redistributed to the top 1 percent in the past eight years than since the 1920's.

Look, if McCain wants to make an argument that people making more than $250,000 shouldn't have their taxes raised, let him make that argument. There's probably some validity to it! But to just spout this kind of nonsense only makes one wonder if McCain has any idea how run an economy. This kind of crap is just stupid demagoguery, as Powell would call it, worse even than what one saw from Bush.

It's not like this is the only thing that McCain has done that's just plain nonsensical fear mongering. But it's sad. I used to like McCain. Now I don't even recognize the man.

Ah...but here's Obama's great response....

"He'll accuse me of being a communist because...I shared my penut butter and jelly sandwich in kindergarden."

Pretty much sums up McCain's campaign, doesn't it?

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