As ABC News has reported, yesterday McCain tried to criticize Obama for proposing higher Social Security taxes. But John McCain-Version 2008 ended up arguing with John McCain-Version 2005, who was open to a similar approach to ensuring Social Security's solvency.
First, here's McCain-V. 2008 trying to slam Obama:
"The Social Security tax cap, he wants to raise from $105,000 to I think $200,000," McCain told Bloomberg News' Peter Cook. "Do you know how many employers, small-business people that would mean a 12-percent increase in their Social Security tax?"
(Note: McCain is misstating Obama's position here. As ABC notes, "Obama and his advisers have said on multiple occasions that he would continue to exempt income between roughly $100,000 and around $200,000 from the Social Security tax while imposing it on income above $200,000." But I digress. Let's continue listening to McCain-V. 2008:)
"I mean, this is just -- Senator Obama wants to raise taxes," he continued. "I want to keep tax cuts in place. And I think that it’s important that in a time of real crisis, economic crisis in America, the last thing we want to do is raise people’s taxes now."
But once again, McCain-V. 2008 got sidetracked in his attack message because he still doesn't realize that it's quite easy for folks these days to, um, look up what he's said in the past on this issue. Here's McCain-V. 2005 on the issue of social security:
On a Feb., 23, 2005, edition of "Meet the Press," NBC's Tim Russert asked McCain if he would support "as part of the solution to Social Security's solvency problem, that you lift the cap so that you would pay payroll tax, Social Security tax, not just on the first $90,000 of your income, but perhaps even higher?"
"As part of a compromise," said McCain, "I could, and other sacrifices, because we all know that it doesn't add up until we make some very serious and fundamental changes."
Ruh-roh. McCain ended up battling the social security issue not against Obama but against himself, or should I say former versions of himself. McCain-V. 2008 vs. McCain-V. 2005:
Asked about the 2005 remark, a McCain spokesman acknowledged the tension with his current position while arguing that the Arizona senator's criticism of his Democratic rival is still valid because McCain has spoken out against higher Social Security taxes as a 2008 White House hopeful.
I love that. A McCain spokesman talking about the "tension" between McCain-V. 2008 and McCain-V. 2005. McCain is creating lots of tension between himself; it must be tiresome. And basically, the McCain mouthpiece is saying that it doesn't matter if McCain said something different in the past, what matters is what he's saying right now. The battle between the McCains continues:
"The contrast here couldn’t be more clear, and pulling one dated quote out of thousands won’t change it," McCain adviser Brian Rogers told ABC News.
Translation: please stop bothering us with past quotes from McCain, with those pesky dates on them, that contradict what he's saying now. Please ignore past versions of McCain, which have all been recalled and stored away, and just listen to what McCain-v. 2008 is saying. That's the only model of our product you should be concerned about.
I'm really looking forward to more McCain v. McCain battles as the general election heats up. It could prove to be the most interesting political fight of the year.
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