McCain presses Obama on taxes

I am a small business owner and Joe the Plumber definitely doesn't speak for me. For one thing, he ISN'T a small business owner at all and he's behind on his taxes yet railing against taxes. To hear McCain and Palin speak, you'd think they were abolishing taxes all together but instead they're keeping all the littl guys and small business owners' taxes the same and just giving the tax cuts to the wealthiest companies in the country, the very ones who already enjoy and use all the loopholes that keep them from paying their share anyway. Taxation and redistributing the funds are how America pays for everything, not Socialism...

McCain is beginning to sound like a broken record. Oh, the days of vinyl.

This is nothing more than a distraction for the fact that Obama is going to cut 95% of American's taxes, and McCain is only going to help the top 5% and screw the rest of us.

I LOVE YOU MC CAIN! I LOVE YOU PALIN!

wow you can write it in various ways but
redistribution of wealth is the core of socialism.

plus its stealing

Palin and McCain (in that order because Palin is the one carrying this campaign with her hate messages), are so out of touch. I actually feel a little sorry for McCain. At any rate, trying to link Obama to socialism is the only straw they have left. It is so sad. They planted old Joe at Obama's rally, had him ask a specific question, had the camera zoom in, and presented him as their new campaign mascot. They failed miserably. Joe does not represent middle class america, and he is not an undecided voter. He is a registered voter and you can see his bald head at many of their rallies. If anything, McCain's plan to buy up all the bad mortgages and have us pay for them is more socialist in nature than Obama's tax plan.

T

The 'socialism' argument is a total red herring. Not even relevant!
Our current system of capitalism resembles a pyramid scheme. As long as masses of people can afford to purchase items and services, the economy grows and profits are made. Income at the lowest earning levels determines the viability of the entire system. Higher health care costs, higher food and gas prices have effectively lowered the spending ability of consumers. In order to maintain a viable economy, the masses of American workers need income which exceeds their costs of essentials. Obama/Biden's plan will address this problem. McCain's plan to drop more money on the top of the pyramid and hope that it 'trickles down' to increase spending for consumer goods by the bottom of the pyramid has not worked. It cannot work. Corporations and companies must act in their own best interest. If no one is purchasing, there is no reason to hire or expand business, no matter how many tax breaks businesses receive. Health care for all would significantly help small business retain good employees and lower the cost of doing business in the U.S. for large corporations, and boost the spending ability of consumers!
Obama/Biden '08 for a healthy economy.

Why are you concerned with Joe's taxes? What about Mr. Obama's Drug Dealer? Have you done any research on him? We are heading in a crazy direction - Please be careful when you vote and Remember what Abraham Lincoln said in 1864 : "That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.
"Let not him who is homeless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built."
Any law which would fight against this law of nature he said: "would do more harm than good."

Go to the net and see how obama is following the socialistic teaching
that his dad espoused.

Socialism. Every last bit of it. You can't tax the "Rich" without having a direct impact on the "Poor." If you do expect more tax shelters and strategies to avoid paying another dime. Jobs will be lost. Both sides overspend, but and Obama/Reid/Pelosi camp will be the end of the USA and the beginning of the USSA. I guess it only took us ~225 years to destroy the thinking that built this country. Congratulations to everyone for not thinking and allowing it to happen. So a Plumber asks a question and is attacked for it? You all need to go look in the mirror.

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” -- Thomas Jefferson

“When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” – Benjamin Franklin

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” – Winston Churchill

yvonne...you have got to be kidding with your comment. Joe the Plumber was a Republican plant? Hahahahahahahahahaha! When Obama wins you are going to see how fast his "I won't raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000" holds up. The number is actually $200,000, as has slipped out several times. You should be aware that he had this same plan during the primary but the number he was using was $75,000. Obama will never be able to give the tax cuts he promises or any of his other proposals without raising taxes. And it won't be on just those who make over $250,000. Obama's claim that "95% of Americans will receive a tax cut" under his plan is totally false. 40% of Americans don't pay ANY income taxes, so no plan will give them a "tax cut". What Obama really means is that he will give 55% of Americans a tax cut and 40% will get a check that will be paid for by those persons he raises taxes on. That is called welfare or socialism, depending on what your perspective. And raising taxes on those making over $250,000 (which won't be the number Obama ends up using - see above) will hurt businesses, especially small businesses that hire 2-5 people on average. Obama says that 90% of small business owners make less than $250,000, so he claims jobs will not be affected. What he doesn't say is that businesses making over $250,000 account for 95% of all the jobs. And where do you think big companies, that already pay 35% of their income in taxes, are going to go if their taxes get raised? They are already moving overseas and/or outsourcing their jobs to countries that charge them 10-15% in income taxes.

Good. Another week that Mccaian will waste on another attack message that nobody will care about, and nobody will change their vote over. Just makes it easier for Obama to win and make Mccain look even more stupid.

I'll suggest a few more topics for Mccain to go after so he can waste week after this one:

A: Obama is a liberal!
B: Joe the Plumber is friends with Bob the Ice Cream truck driver.

C:

Law of Marginal Utility of money. Economics 201. Makes sense. Scare tactics aside. Keep the money in the hands of those with highest probability of actually spending it. This helps to keep and create jobs.

The economy of the United States has been directed by the Federal Reserve Bank and NYSE for years. Bush and McCain wanted the American workers to gamble their retirement funds on Wall Street, so that Republican Robber Barons can squeeze more out of the citizens and the economy. We have had a defacto socialist economy in the United States for years. Now the big business Socialists want to cash in their chips with the Treasury before the market collapses into a depression.

We have always had a progressive income tax, so if it's socialism then we've always had it. Allowing 95% of Americans to keep more of their hard earned money is hardly a redistribution of wealth and it's not welfare as McCain touts on one of his newer ads. But it is a great way to make sure that people have the money they need to support their families and keep the economy going. McCain's socialist comments make him seem out of touch. More McCarthy than McCain.

Taxing the poor and middle class and giving tax breaks to the wealthiest is distributing the wealth. It just happens to distribute it to a small pool.

Some believe that this small pool will generate jobs and new wealth.
Some people believe that giving breaks to the middle class will generate a greater demand for goods and will thus create new jobs.

Both sides are trying to help the country rebound. Why demonize either side.

OBAMA 4 PREZIDENT FORGET MC CAIN ITS TIME 4 A CHANGE AND IF HE DONT WIN CUZ THEY CHEATED DEN OTHERS WILL COME IN PLACE OF THAT LEADER AND IF ITS ME IM PAINTIN DA WHITE HOUSE BLACK...LMAO

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't it John McCain who bought up Joe the Plumber.? He mention his name at least a dozen times. during the debate. He mention him on his stump speech the next day. He even bought it up in New York during that big fancy dinner. He bought Joe into this , he even apologize on Letterman. Now he is trying to make it that the Dems are doing this to him. Give me a break. How long is it going to take to see the desperation of the McCain/Palin campaign. Good Grief!!!!!!!!!!

What do you mean "The attacks on him are attacks on small businesses all over this country?!" McCain, you just can't be serious. How can you argue your point by using an unlicensed plumber as your example? You don't even have a strong support base. Next time you want to use an actual person to support your theory, consider a background check first. Thats just common sense; which is obviously something you lack. The last thing Americans need is to worry about is a President that doesn't have common sense. Goodbye & God Bless!
~Obama 2008~

He's awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm listening to Rush talk about the restribution of weath and he is about to make me sick. He sounds like a broken record and running scared that someone might take away one of his $10,000 pair of shoes I'm sure. Obama's plan is not to rip the rich off but to allow them to pay as much of a percentage of their income as the lower to middle income do. My household earns a little over $100,000 a year and we need tax relief. And whereas we are paying a good 15% of our income in taxes, those in income levels over $250,000 are not. We definitely need change - we need Obama/Biden!

What is McCain's tax proposal? I've heard Obama's proposal to lower taxes for 955 and raise taxes for income taxable after $250,000. But all I heard from McCain is to make Bush permanent. He adds tha this will create Jobs!! But, those tax rates have been in effect for the past seven years. Have we not lost over 800,000 jobs in the last twelve months? How does he propose that this tax policy is suddenly start working?

My state was full of factories, people working before reagan got into office. Reagan broke the unions and the backs of middle class. Big Bush followed suit. I lost my job, my health insurance and even my 401k back then. Little bush took my kids lives their future. Republicans have robbed my family. Your family could be next. Growing the pie "McCain say" who has money to buy pie!

I just keep hearing that same old dribble that the big oil companies are going to get big tax breaks and the rich are not paying their fair share of taxes. For one thing if the oil companies don't get a tax break then you people are going to pay more for gasoline and other energy products because the profit margin is a percentage of total sales. That means that taxes are just another business expense that will be passed to you, just like sales tax. The rich people that own businesses will do the same thing, they will just add the difference to you in the cost of their products. One thing that is already going on is the flight to other countries that are not taxing as high as the US. Have you heard the term off shore banks

Republicans have done a great job in convincing people to vote against their own interest by drumming propaghanda into their heads about "socialism!". When Republicans are totally for socialism, as long as it stays the way it is... which is socialism for the extremely rich.

Close to 1/3 of seriously profitable companies don't pay ANY taxes, but get billions of dollars in outright tax rebates.

Just for the benefit of my fellow Republicans who are buying this latest smear by Senator McCain: 34% of the current tax dollars our government spends each year are contributed by the people John McCain considers deadbeats, and un-deserving of a tax-credit under Senator Obama's plan. If you add in the income tax component that most of those same people contribute, the so-called 'middle class' pays the majority of the taxes, and does 99% of the work (on an hourly basis) that keeps our economy running. They are also, coincidentally, the ones who do the fighting and the dying when there's a war, even if the war itself is being staged for the benefit of the folks at the top. I've never been more disgusted by my own party than I am today, and I've been a Republican for 34 years.

Both my wife and me work for govement. Our income are little over 250,000. I planed to vote Obama two month ago. After I reviewed Obama's tax plan, we will vote McCain if Obama does not make the changes for his tax plan. A lot of my colleague plan to do the same thing.

I am from Australia, and I think I speak on behalf of the majority of Aussies, and the international community:

1. Try stepping above the political rhetorric, and not being tricked by what seems obvious fear mongering (at least to the international community. It seems backward to be in fear of socialism, or link Obama to communism and Russia and the days of the cold war (ludicrous). ALL taxes are redistributed, it is nothing new, nothing particularly strange, just a fear mongering argument which Americans should be more intelligent in recognising across the board.

2. A strong economy is not driven by corporate expansion on the whole, its driven by consumption/demand, a large component of which is the domestic market. As soon as spending, employment and mortgages increase (and the general feeling of financial security within a population), the economic environment changes. America is a net importer, which means the international community benefits having a confident, spending American population. The majority of the outside world hopes for Obama and Obama economics to help buck the current market in the US, come November

3. It really isn't stealing from the rich to give to the poor, it is simply injecting ADDITIONAL taxes and resultantly increasing spending in tactical sections of the market, in a time of great need. That is how taxes work, nothing new, nothing particularly strange about it.

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I think obama/biden is a good change for our country, he is a very intelligent man I know he is what we need for our economy, and he understands that everyone is not bleesed with a wealthy family, and that we are trying to also become wealthy by putting ourselves through college, but if you know that you cant afford college, which most people cant , you dont go to college so you can't be wealthy. All I'm saying is give us who are less fortunite a chance.

Vote Obama*****

I think obama/biden is a good change for our country, he is a very intelligent man I know he is what we need for our economy, and he understands that everyone is not bleesed with a wealthy family, and that we are trying to also become wealthy by putting ourselves through college, but if you know that you cant afford college, which most people cant , you dont go because you afraid to gone into debt, so you never get a chance to be wealthy. All I'm saying is give us who are less fortunate a chance.

Vote Obama*****

There are problems with the bipartisan system, and neither candidate this time around is the messiah. Despite this, McCain is the wiser choice. Last time I checked U.S. history, the pilgrims left England and started their own country, our country, to get away from Great Britain's inflated and heavy taxes.
McCain 08'

Deb Vee-
Sure, you're a small business owner (not some liberal hack posing as a small business owner). But to give you the benefit of the doubt, why not voluntarily give more of your income to the state? Why should the rest of us be forced to pay for your vision of society? Here's an idea: why not introduce an asset tax on Warren Buffett and George Soros and give the little guy true income tax relief? After all income taxes don't bother you once you have a pile that throws off more income than you can consume, so why don't they pony up, along with tax lovers like yourself, to fund the Bolshevik agenda you collectively seek?

I am fed up with the GOP idea of redistribution of wealth: taking it from those of us with the least and give it to the multi-millionaires. We have gone from a manufacturing country that makes things to a country that makes money through the stock market and finance and has our things made in China. Look what that got us!
Thank-you Barack Obama and Joe Biden for taking back America for those of us who are paying for the bailout!

It is all very simple. Businesses, big or small, need customers. Customers, big or small, need money to spend. If customers have no money, businesses have no customers. If businesses have no customers, THERE IS NO REASON TO HIRE ANYBODY! Give the tax breaks to the potential customers. It's no rocket science! (If it were, we'd have to import smart people anyway)

All McCain does is lie lie lie all the time. Nothing but lies. How unpatriotic. How unAmerican. Our country is on the verge of collapsing, 100%, and all McCain can do is lie to the American people. We don't need another 8 years of lying. We need 8 years of rescuing our country before it is beyond rescue. It's time we all work together, republicans, democrats, independents, etc., and quit being an us-against-them society. That sort of mindset simply does not work. Come together people. We all know what McCain is about -- McCain is just another incarnation of Bush. This country can't survive more Bush policies, yet that's all McCain has to offer. Obviously, his choice of VP screams poor judgment. Sarah Palin isn't fit to serve in any political capacity, let alone be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Obama is our only chance of taking this country back into a positive direction for all of us together. Obama will unit. McCain will further divide us. Division will break our country once and for all. Vote for our future.

OBAMA/BIDEN 2008!

the democrats will always do the same thing to someone that questions them. ridicule and slander them; bring up their past (wich has nothing to do with right now). i can only pray that one day democrats will some how develope a sense of morals.

I am afraid the Obama Express has developed four flat tires. It appears loose lips do infact sink ships.

I certainly am not prepared to give what I have worked for all my life to those that have never worked in their lives.

Ladies and Gentlemen this is going to be the biggest upset in American political history. Kind of like when the American hockey team upset the Russians at the olympic games. Get prepared!

So let me get this straight. The Republican Party wants to give tax credits and breaks to big business and wealthy Americans so that these businesses and individuals, bolstered by their even greater wealth, will be inspired to create more jobs, and therefore revive the economy.

The Democrats want to levy a higher tax on large businesses and wealthy Americans to pay for a tax cut for "the other 95%" of Americans, so that the majority of the people in this country, bolstered by having a little more money available, will be inspired to buy more things, which in turn will require business to create more jobs, and therefore revive the economy.

Haven't we learned these last few weeks that letting the rich get richer only inspires, in McCain's words, greedy behavior - as opposed to an urgent desire to create jobs for goods and services that few can afford?

Haven't we progressed far enough to be able to reason out that supply and demand will ensure that if we create the demand, the supply will come, regardless of a 3% higher tax on income over $250K?

Why is this even an issue?

In the end, ALL politicians spread the wealth around. Some spread it from the bottom up, and others spread it from the top down. One way is just as socialist as the next...which is to say, neither approach is socialist.

Let's stop arguing about ideology and start arguing about reality. We'll have a lot less to argue about.

John McCain is the quintessential American patriot but he does not seem very bright and has surrounded himself with the usual right-wing suspects. It is costing him the election. If elected, I think he'll follow suit with his Cabinet choices as well. He just has not been very good at choosing people for his campaign (witness Sarah Palin and Rick Davis). John McCain is a third-generation military man. He’s from an aging generation and seems bent on having to win a war during his lifetime to avenge what happened to him in Vietnam. It is very clear to me that two things are very important to him:
1. the war, and
2. preserving the Bush tax cuts given to the wealthiest Americans in hope that the trickle-down effect of economics will work.

Barack Obama just seems more intelligent, more calm and more collected in these critical times. He has surrounded himself with an incredible campaign staff and has used excellent advisors (such as Warren Buffet on economic/tax issues). He is well connected with modern technology and has used those resources to get his platform out to a new generation of voters. He is a new millennium politician. If elected, I am confident that he will surround himself with great people in his Cabinet. General Colin Powell’s endorsement recently says much for Obama’s campaign. I think Obama is more willing to “work across the aisle” than he is being given credit for.

I am very fearful of the rage exhibited by the McCain/Palin supporters recently. There is almost a lynch-mob mentality at some of the more recent campaign stops. We need Americans to come together to help solve our economic woes and re-establish the U.S. in foreign affairs so we can band together as Allied Nations once again and have a concerted effort aginst terrorism. Instead, it seems that the country is becoming even more divided, especially on the far right.

It is time to move in a new direction ... a time for change in our approach to economics and foreign affairs.

Watch out for "change." Things can be much much worse than they are. Watch out for "transformation." Obama's true agenda is veiled. He may even be Al Qaeda's man in the whitehouse. Yes, don't you sometimes get that surreal feeling we had watching the twin towers fall?

Obama says that he is fighting for the middle class. But he has a record of being an activist, who fomented unrest in order to demand more benefits for poor black people. Who will pay for these programs? The poor cannot. The rich may decide that they are overtaxed already and leave. The middle class are not the group that Obama is going to support. Even if it is his agenda to do so, he will not be able to, since there is an economic crisis.

Isn't it possible that Al Qaeda is involved in the crashes of the stock market, enhancing the effect, to Obama's benefit? We know that Al Qaeda has agents in America and that money is no object. Maybe Al Qaeda is also behind Obama's spending sprees. Do you really think that he got huge funding from the piggy banks of the poor? Have you noticed that his campaign is more effective and organized than a military coup? Who is backing his great rise to prominence? Can a single man cause such adulation, or is there much more at work behind the scenes?

Only a con man gets upset if you have reservations about trusting him right away. Obama ridicules people who are not sure that we know him well enough or that he has the right agenda and not a hidden one.

Watch out for change for change's sake. What happens if you vote a terrorist into the white house? Vote for Obama and you may find out.

In 2002 the latest year of available data, the top 5 percent of taxpayers paid more than one-half (53.8 percent) of all individual income taxes, but reported roughly one-third (30.6 percent) of income.

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 33.7 percent of all individual income taxes in 2002. This group of taxpayers has paid more than 30 percent of individual income taxes since 1995. Moreover, since 1990 this group’s tax share has grown faster than their income share.
Taxpayers who rank in the top 50 percent of taxpayers by income pay virtually all individual income taxes. In all years since 1990, taxpayers in this group have paid over 94 percent of all individual income taxes. In 2000, 2001, and 2002, this group paid over 96 percent of the total.
The share of taxes paid by the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers will fall from 4.1 percent to 3.6 percent.

The share of taxes paid by the top 1 percent of taxpayers will rise from 32.3 percent to 33.7 percent.

The average tax rate for the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers falls by 27 percent as compared to a 13 percent decline for taxpayers in the top 1 percent.

So who is paying the biggest share of the taxes as we speak. You can't cut someones tax it they don't pay any. The bottom 50% it appears is doing okay.

look no. 27 at least you have a F#$% job stop whinning about petty shit. there are thousands of people who do not have a job let alone make over $250.000 . many of us have always lived in a recession. living from paycheck to paycheck. wondering how we're going to feed our families, buy the basic neccessities, have affordable healthcare, I'm sure these are the least of your worries making a little over $250.000 it's just the right thing to do. In Proverbs 22:9 reads "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor." Obama is doing what is right for America. the little extra you will be paying in taxes is putting food on someones's table , clothes on someone's back . Don't be selfish and switch parties because you have to pay a little more in taxes. have some kind of compassion for your fellow american. Proverbs 27:1 reads "Boast not thyself of tomarrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. I hope you continue to prosper in your job but think of those who are less fortunate than oneself.

If Obama was to cut 95% of taxes, our country would be screwed. In order for our country to do well, and pay for things like, I don't know, OUR MILITARY, we have to raise taxes somewhere. My father, a doctor, pays more in taxes than most people make in a year. He does not especially want to pay more taxes. For Obama to say that a person is not "patriotic" because he can afford to pay more and doesn't is insane. This is also coming from a guy who says he does not feel that we should have our national anthem be what it is and will not wear the flag pins on his lapel. Oh, yeah. we should definately have Obama be our next president............John McCain '08!

Wow! I had no idea that neocons were such a hate-filled group. I've never seen such blatant bigotry displayed in my entire adult life. As we move closer to the general election, the name-calling and fear-mongering have picked up dramatically amongst the far right supporters (the only group left still supporting McCain/Palin).

I am a 55 year old white male. My wife and I have been married 31+ years. We're empty nesters. Our 2 children are grown and gone, living out on their own.

My wife and I are getting very scared of the neocon inuendo and the hate being displayed at McCain's and Palin's campaign stops. We're afraid that the hate-filled rage coming out of that group of voters will result in violence across America.

The Republicans hgad their chance to direct this country down the path of prosperity and they failed. It's time to give the other side of the aisle a chance to see whther they can right this sinking ship call the US of A!

Vote for Obama. Vote for change. :]

This whole "redistributing wealth" is a red herring. Governments of all stripes are all about redistributing wealth. For 75 years we have had a vast redistribution of wealth from working people to retirees--it's called social security. Wealth has been redistributed upward to the wealthiest in this country for the last 30 years, and middle and working class wages have been flat during that time. Obama wants to even the playing field by raising marginal rates on the wealthiest from 35 to 39%, which was the rate under Clinton. That is hardly socialist. The more crucial question is the 53 trillion dollars of unfunded liabilities that are facing us down the road due to the retirement of the baby boomers. Neither candidate is
willing to talk about that issue, but it's coming. The next president, whether McCain or Obama, will have to make some really tough and unpopular choices. Of course, saying you will raise taxes is the quickest route to electoral defeat in the US. Look what happened to Mondale. Conservatives forget that Ronald Reagan did raise taxes...several times!