Candidate McCain is eagerly pushing his image as a straight talker. But those of us who watch what candidates say have a different opinion on McCain's tax talk. He has adopted the path of least resistance--claim that continuing the Bush cuts is reasonable, complain about the way tax cuts are scored, and then let the nation continue into a deficit-ridden, fund-short future where education, basic research and infrastructure take a back seat to making sure that the wealthiest in the country are sitting pretty while the ordinary workers suffer.
Here's an excerpt of what Paul Krugman had to say today, in Bush Made Permanent, NY Times, Apr. 28, 2008.
"... what Mr. McCain says about taxes shows the same combination of irresponsibility and double-talk that, back in 2000, foreshadowed the character of the Bush administration. The McCain tax plan contains three main elements.
First, Mr. McCain proposes making almost all of the Bush tax cuts, which are currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, permanent. (He proposes reinstating the inheritance tax, albeit at a very low rate.)
Second, he wants to eliminate the alternative minimum tax, which was originally created to prevent the wealthy from exploiting tax loopholes, but has begun to hit the upper middle class.
Third, he wants to sharply reduce tax rates on corporate profits.
According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, the overall effect of the McCain tax plan would be to reduce federal revenue by more than $5 trillion over 10 years. That’s a lot of revenue loss — enough to pose big problems for the government’s solvency.
The American people need to stand up and demand accountability of our political candidates. They have been giving away the store to the wealthy. The farm bill, for example, is primarily corporate welfare for agribusiness and has very little to do with helping small family farmers who are in danger of losing their farm. In fact, big agrifarms are making hay--literally and figuratively--even without taking the federal funds into consideration. Yet the federal government pays each of these agrifarms hundreds of thousands annually not to grow specific items. And the Senate has added billions to that bill. Will we never see politicians again who can do the right thing, instead of the right thing to get funding for their elections from the wealthy? Not unless ordinary Americans let their Senators and Representatives hear what they really think--that corporate welfare for the wealthy has to stop, and that the farm bill and the Bush tax cuts are a good place to start putting a stop to it.
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