Then host George Stephanopoulos raised Social Security. "You're a longtime supporter of the private accounts, as President Bush called for them." Wishing to further distance himself from President Bush, when he could have drawn an equally useful contrast with Barack Obama, Mr. McCain didn't even own up to his support for private retirement accounts, simply saying, "I am a supporter of sitting down together and putting everything on the table and coming up with an answer."
Mr. Stephanopoulos pressed, "So that means payroll tax increases are on the table, as well?" Here came the words that have caused the McCain campaign well deserved grief: "There is nothing that's off the table. I have my positions, and I'll articulate them. But nothing's off the table."
So given a chance to reiterate his opposition to tax increases -- and underscore a main contrast with his opponent -- Mr. McCain punted. Democrats were quick to pounce, with the Democratic National Committee issuing a press release headlined, "McCain Tax Pledge? Not so much." It provided citations of the presumptive GOP nominee asserting that "Senator Obama will raise your taxes. I won't." Expect the "nothing's off the table" line to show up in Democratic TV spots this fall.
http://online.wsj.com/...
Now to begin with, who could ever believe that a Rupert Murdoch publication, such as the conservative WSJ, could ever be so critical of the presumptive republican candidate? The WSJ article goes on to color McCain's flip/flops and further savages his candidacy. The tax issue is exactly why Republicans don't like, and don't trust McCain, and McCain seems very eager to give them reason to doubt his candidacy and republican credentials. Not only does McCain have to try to woo disaffected independents and democrats, but the more he speaks, the more he flip/flops, the more he makes gaffe's...the more he has to work to woo voting members of his own party. John McCain is a walking disaster for the republican party. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to dump him at their convention. Especially if he chooses Mitt Romney, who the republican base despises because of his religion. Imagine, the republicans opposing somebody on the basis of their religion or color or sexual identification.....what a surprise, LOL!
Just to clarify what the WSJ reports, Obama would only raise taxes on the wealthiest 1.5% Americans.
Here is what Obama will do for the middle class (from his website):
Obama will cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families to offset the payroll tax they pay.
* Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families: Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need. Obama will create a new "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.
* Eliminate Income Taxes for Seniors Making Less than $50,000: Barack Obama will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This proposal will eliminate income taxes for 7 million seniors and provide these seniors with an average savings of $1,400 each year.
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