We need to get this viral, or as close to viral as we can get it.
Please Digg it
The FactCheck page on the Obama site
They play the latest McCain attack ad and refute it point by point. Also, the campaign is done being nice and is pointing out that McCain is LYING, and I think it's good to just call it what it is at this point, LYING. The more the American people see that McCain is a LIAR the less "mavericky" he is and the more he looks like Bush--who has made lying to the American people almost an artform.
Tips, Recs, and comments are welcome.
It may not be a flashy video, but it takes the time to break it down in easy to understand terms for those who want the information. And please don't forget to digg it!
Also, this is off-topic, but Bernie Mac died this morning. If you believe in a Higher Being, please pray for his family and fans. It's a huge loss, and in a way I still can't believe it. He was only 50.
Update: Newsweek is also pointing out McCain's lies on Obama's tax policy.
Summary
McCain released three new ads with multiple false and misleading claims about Obama's tax proposals.
A TV spot claims Obama once voted for a tax increase "on people making just $42,000 a year." That's true for a single taxpayer, who would have seen a tax increase of $15 for the year – if the measure had been enacted. But the ad shows a woman with two children, and as a single mother, she would not have been affected unless she made more than $62,150. The increase that Obama once supported as part of a Democratic budget bill is not part of his current tax plan anyway.
A Spanish-language radio ad claims the measure Obama supported would have raised taxes on "families" making $42,000, which is simply false. Even a single mother with one child would have been able to make $58,650 without being affected. A family of four with income up to $90,000 would not have been affected.
The TV ad claims in a graphic that Obama would "raise taxes on middle class." In fact, Obama's plan promises cuts for middle-income taxpayers and would increase rates only for persons with family incomes above $250,000 or with individual incomes above $200,000.
The radio ad claims Obama would increase taxes "on the sale of your home." In fact, home-sale profits of up to $500,000 per couple would continue to be exempt from capital gains taxes. Very few sales would see an increase under Obama's proposal to raise the capital gains rate.
Click Here
A second radio ad, in English, says, "Obama has a history of raising taxes" on middle-class Americans. But that's false. It refers to a vote that did not actually result in a tax increase and could not have done so.
These ads continue what's become a pattern of misrepresentation by the McCain campaign about his opponent's tax proposals.
The Newsweek article goes through a 4 page debunking of McCain't's LIES on Obama's policy. Nice to see some journalists doing their jobs. . . Check out the whole thing and pass it on.
UPDATE #2: CNN breaks them down too:
UPDATE #4: Here's theCNN transcript for the hearing and broadband impaired:
WILLIS: All right. We've got some really interesting numbers here. You know, we were talking just a few minutes ago about the tax policies of the two major candidates out there -- Obama and McCain. How do they stack up? Classic match-up -- Republican and Democrat. Look at these numbers though.
Let's start with low-income folks out there. $38,000 to $66,000 a year. If you're earning that, under the McCain plan, you save about $319. Under the Obama plan, you save over $1,000. So, big benefits going for folks who earn less than $66,000. Now, let's up the ante a little bit. If you're in the middle of the income stream, $66,000 to $112,000, which is actually pretty rich in this country. Your tax bill would come in 1,000 bucks lower under McCain. Under Obama, it would come in 1200 bucks lower.
Now, let's look at people who make a chunk of change. $112,000 to $161,000. McCain, big-time savings there of $2600. Obama, not so much at 2200 when you stack the two next to each other.
But here is the rub, guys. Look at these numbers. If you're super wealthy in this country, Obama is going to sock you with more taxes of more than $700,000. Now, you see the message of that, where he wants to make up tax revenues here.
Interesting stuff from the Tax Policy Center. They are a nonpartisan research organization out of Washington. You see that classic match-up, though.
What's interesting, John, I think, is that you would expect the Democrats to raise taxes on lots of folks, not just the super wealthy. Not the case with Obama. Really going after the super rich here.
ROBERTS: Yes. The whole, I guess, message of this campaign is that -- and Jim Webb was talking about this yesterday, that there's this calcification of, you know, difference between the very wealthy in this country and those who are financially disadvantaged.
WILLIS: Huge gap, growing gap.
ROBERTS: Or even people in the middle class. And I guess they want to try to level that playing field.
WILLIS: They want to level that playing field. And very interesting differences, of course also, Obama giving tax credits to people who don't have income to report. So, very different approach to taxes in this country. Makes it clear as a bell for you out there who are going to be voting in November.
ROBERTS: All right. Lots to consider this year.
WILLIS: That's right.
UPDATE #3: Another good graph to pass around:
UPDATE #5: Senator Obama is SUPPOSED to be on Vacation, but he still took the time out this morning to give the Democrat's Radio Address, since this diary is about tax policy, I'm only quoting that part. Click here to read it all and to listen to the address:
In recent days, we’ve seen two stark examples of exactly what’s wrong with Washington, and what’s at stake in this election.
First, we learned that the federal budget deficit could reach nearly half a trillion dollars next year.
Eight years after we had a record surplus, we’re now faced with record deficits. This mortgaging of our children’s future is a direct result of the Bush Administration’s dangerously failed fiscal policies.
Instead of helping Americans who are struggling, we’ve seen loopholes and lavish giveaways for corporations that ship jobs overseas, and tax cut after tax cut for the wealthiest Americans who don’t need them and didn’t even ask for them.
Now, Senator McCain proposes to continue these costly and unfair Bush tax policies. He would continue to put special interests ahead of Americans who are struggling, while short-changing the investments we need to get our economy moving again.
[snip]
The American people are worse off than they were eight years ago. Everywhere I go, I meet people who are working hard for their families – but are still falling behind. Our government has lost touch with the most fundamental American values – the belief that everyone should be able to live the American Dream; the sense that we are all in this together as Americans.
Senator McCain talks about putting our country first, but he is running for a third term of the very same policies that have set our country back. We can’t afford to take that chance. We can’t afford to keep running up record deficits while we favor the few over the many. We can’t prioritize a misguided war in Iraq over the urgent needs of the American people.
I believe that we need to move in a new direction.
It’s time to restore balance and fairness to our economy, and to give working people immediate and meaningful relief.
It’s time to stop giving tax cuts to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and to put a tax cut into the pocket of 95 percent of working Americans and their families.
All emphasis is mine.
UPDATE #6: Hey! We made the video popular on Digg!!! Keep digging, maybe we can get to over a thousand! Thanks everyone!
UPDATE #7: Umm, people this is NOT a commercial. It's a part of their factcheck site. If you don't like it, or think it's boring, that's your right. But it's another way to get out information. You can't just say "McCain lied" and not tell HOW he lied. I agree, they need to have surrogates all over the place pointing this out as well, but I think the web video is good, it's something that can be sent easily, and for people who are actually voting on issues or canvassing for the campaign, it's a great source for information. The reason I wanted to make this "viral" was in hopes of even more people seeing it. Maybe it's "preaching to the choir" but people may not have been aware of how to refute all of the lies, now they know. Not everything is going to be flashy.
UPDATE #8: Reddit link, go on and uprate it there too :o)
UPDATE #9: (I promise, I did get some sleep ~lol~) I think this comment shows why this video is good and important:
I'm an uneducated first time voter. Like other voters who are uneducated, I realize that people like me are often misled by politicians using fancy talking points. They tell us what we want to hear while at the same time refusing to share any negative information on their proposals.
This is just the kind of information/number breakdown someone like me appreciates. We go straight to the numbers and find our income level.
Those numbers are looking pretty good. That $892 - $1042 tells someone like myself that I could afford food for my family for an additional 6 to 8 weeks. I could pay a few more months of necessities like my electric bill or perhaps use the savings to pay for my phone for a full year.
This breakdown is simple enough for someone with an 8th grade education to understand.
WE NEED MORE OF THIS. MUCH MORE OF THIS. GET THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION INTO EVERY HOME. THIS WILL WIN VOTES. THIS IS HOW YOU REACH BLUE COLLAR VOTERS. THIS IS HOW YOU REACH BLUE COLLAR VOTERS. THIS IS HOW YOU REACH BLUE COLLAR VOTERS. I are one. I know this works.
We also desperately need this kind of simplistic breakdown on the subject of Universal Healthcare. Simple numbers and simple facts.
This is not less powerful than the friendly commercials showing what a great guy Barack is.
This is more powerful than those commercials to your average blue collar voter!
While McC[ompl]ain is busy running a smear-O-thon (pun intended), the American people want to know what you are going to do for them. He's not putting forward any new plans, but videos like the one posted above show that Obama is NOT an empty suit, and fights the "celebrity" meme better than any personal attack Obama could lob at McC[ompl]ain. The person who wrote the comment wasn't looking for mojo per se, but go give him/her some anyway :o)