10-17-08, 4:30 pm
Provide $45 billion in tax breaks for the 200 biggest corporations or $4 billion to the five largest oil companies, and the McCain campaign calls it economic stimulus. If it the plan is to provide 95 percent of working families with real tax relief, however, the McCain campaign calls it 'welfare.'
The McCain campaign released a new web video this week referring to Obama's tax proposal to provide relief to 95 percent of working families as 'welfare' and 'government handouts.'
This new claim is an erratic 180 degree turn in logic from John McCain's repeated claim during the last presidential debate, Oct. 15th, that Obama wants to raise taxes. Now the McCain campaign seems to have accepted that Obama would not raise taxes, and in fact would provide tax breaks to tens of millions of working families, according to ABC News.
But these tax breaks are the bad kind, apparently.
Top McCain economic advisor Doug Holtz-Eakin admitted to reporters this week that Obama would provide something like seven income tax credits for middle-class families. According to media reports he listed them as follows: (1) a 'make-work-pay' credit of up to $500, (2) a universal mortgage credit of 10 percent of mortgage interest, (3) three different extensions of the Earned Income Tax Credit, (4) a refundable child care credit, (5) a saver's credit, (6) a Hope Credit, and (7) a 100 percent match of college expenses up to $4,000.
'This array of credits amounts to sending checks to individuals,' Holtz-Eakin was quoted as saying. 'In 2009, there would be checks sent to 57 million households in the US.' This is the basis of McCain's new 'welfare' argument. Simply put, the McCain campaign is saying tax credits targeted to benefit middle-class families amount to 'welfare' and 'government handouts.'
McCain, however, is offering similar types of tax credits (though in nowhere the same amount and provided to far fewer families), and one would think the McCain people would apply the same terms, like 'government handouts' to their own proposals, at least to be consistent. But so far that hasn't been the case.
On the other hand, the McCain campaign is proposing to give tax breaks to the 200 largest corporations, including $4 billion in tax cuts for the five largest oil companies, which raked in record profits this year on oil speculation and price gouging. Oil companies who will benefit from these 'government handouts' don't seem to have qualified for the McCain campaign's list of 'welfare' recipients.
By this logic, only working families get welfare, apparently. According to the confused logic of John McCain, huge multinational corporations, whose lobbyist work for him and write his policies, get stimulus and relief. Is it possible to be more out of touch?
