McCain Screws The Pooch

Hey all. This one is about a week old. I'm sorry for the delay; I've been busy watching this over and over again on an infinite loop in hopes that it will cause me irreversible brain damage, at which point I might be able to score a handicapped placard for my car. It hasn't worked so far, but I did happen to stop the loop long enough to find another string of nonsense spewing forth from the smirking mouth of John McCain's campaign.

SUMMARY: McCain's campaign has released ads that state or imply that Obama will raise taxes on people making as little as $42,000 a year, and that he has a history of doing so. In actuality, Obama has no plans whatsoever to do this; he will raise taxes only on individuals making more than $200,000 a year, and families making more than $250,000 a year.

Furthermore, Obama does not have a "history" of voting for these increases; he has never once voted yes on or supported any such legislation. He once voted yes on a non-binding resolution that, if followed, would have resulted in a fifteen-dollar tax increase for individuals making $42,000 a year. However, that portion of the resolution was not followed, and that increase in taxes never occurred.

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McCain released three ads recently; all with a common theme, and all with a different version of a false claim regarding Obama's tax plan for the middle class. Let's give a quick rundown of them all.

1. This TV ad plays up Obama's "celebrity" status, and features the following narration:

"Obama voted to raise taxes on people making just $42,000."

It is accompanied by a clip of a mother with her child, and a block of text that reads "Obama: Raise taxes on middle class."

2. This ad, which also uses the "celebrity" angle, contained the following quote:

"You've seen in him London, Paris, and Berlin. Now, you too can join The One's fan club right here in America. The perks are amazing - like a tax increase for everyone earning more than $42,000 a year."

It is accompanied by the text: "Obama voted to raise taxes on everyone making $42,000 a year."

3. This radio ad states:

"Official records document Barack Obama has a history of raising taxes, even on middle class Americans making just $42,000 a year."

These ads are all different, but they all communicate the same message: Obama will raise taxes on people who make as little as $42,000 a year. I will say right off the bat: This is not true. Barack Obama will only raise taxes on individuals making more than $200,000 a year, and families making $250,000 a year.

Where did McCain get the $42,000 number? In March 2008, Obama voted yes on a non-binding budget resolution. Under this resolution, individuals making $42,000 a year would see a tax increase.

However, consider the following:

It was a non-binding resolution. This means it was a general guideline for the congressional tax-writing committees to observe, not a piece of legislation that, if passed, would necessarily be implemented.

The resolution didn't contain any provisions that would raise taxes; it simply assumed that the 2003 tax cuts would expire, as they're set to, in 2011, which would result in the aforementioned tax increase.

The resolution didn't actually result in any tax increases (because, as I stated, the non-binding resolution was simply a suggestion, not a piece of actual legislation).

The actual amount of the tax increase for Americans making $42,000 a year under the resolution would have been $15. That's fight - fifteen bucks. That's the same price as the bagel and lox platter I had at Jerry's Deli back in July (admittedly, Jerry's Deli is absurdly overpriced).

Most importantly, this tax increase is not contained in any of the tax plans Obama has proposed for his presidency..

With all this in mind, let's re-assess McCain's claims. Is he lying, or simply being misleading? The answer, I think, is both. Statements like "Obama voted to raise taxes on people making just $42,000" are somewhat open to interpretation. If the phrase "voted to raise taxes" refers to casting a "yes" vote on anything with the potential to raise taxes, then yes, he did. But if the phrase refers to voting yes on something that, if passed, would guarantee an increase in taxes, then the claim is false. The statement is misleading, but not patently false.

Then there's stuff like, "You can join [Obama's] fan club right here in America. The perks are amazing - like a tax increase for everyone earning more than $42,000 a year." Again, this doesn't actually contain the words, "Obama will raise taxes on people making $42,000 a year" (which would be false), but it implies that with such force that I, personally, would say it qualifies as a false statement. That's admittedly debatable, but it's a semantic debate on what qualifies as false - no one could argue that it's not a statement constructed with the intent to mislead.

But then we have, "Official records document Barack Obama has a history of raising taxes, even on middle class Americans making just $42,000 a year." That is completely, 100% untrue, and this is the kind of stuff McCain shouldn't be getting away with. Obama does not have a history of raising taxes on people making $42,000 a year. No vote he's ever cast, no legislation he's ever supported has had this effect. As I said earlier, the resolution in question did not actually result in a tax increase, indirectly or directly, for anybody making $42,000 a year. It was a proposed guideline, but supporting a proposed guideline is not the same as having a "history of increasing taxes."

Once again, just for the record: The only individuals who will see a tax increase under Obama's plan are those who make more than $200,000 a year. Families must make more than $250,000 in order to see this increase.

More info: FactCheck.org