So, John McCain has gone from "I will not agree to any tax increase" to "nothing's off the table":
Economics has never been Mr. McCain's strong suit, but with Iraq receding as a crisis the economy is the ground where the Senator will have to fight and win. And the tax issue provides him with a potent opening, given Mr. Obama's pledge to raise taxes on incomes, dividends and capital gains. In proposing to raise the payroll tax cap, the Democrat is to the left even of Hillary Clinton. Mr. McCain's Sunday blunder will make that issue that much harder to exploit.
Such mistakes also help explain the continued lack of enthusiasm for Mr. McCain among many conservatives.
No kidding. Given Obama's fondness for tax increases and McCain's usually deserved reputation for fiscal restraint, I thought there was a clear choice between the candidates in this area, and I'd much rather this be one of those issues McCain doesn't flip-flop over. Still, "nothing's off the table" is probably a more honest answer, and I'd rather hear it now than have to read his lips later.
Comments
Taxes ALWAYS equal spending, Leo. If you don't have an explicit tax, then you tax through the anarchy tax: inflation.
Kemp economics say it doesn't really matter if you have taxes or not; it's government spending that matters. Consequently, the neo-cons in congress have voted for tax cut after tax cut, making it look like government is cheaper than if Democrats run things, but in fact, it's not.
And in the last six years, the value of the dollar has dropped 32%. The McCain ads claim that Obama is responsible for $4 gasoline, but in fact, it'd be $3 gas instead of $4 gas if the dollar hadn't dropped in value.
Kemp WAS right - tax rates really don't matter - but the neocons in congress ignored the other half of the equation: government spending DOES matter. And wasting money on a war that McCain still won't admit was a mistake is a big part of the overspending.
This war was supposed to pay for itself, right? We were supposed to be greeted warmly, as liberators, right? We knew there were weapons of mass destruction, right? They were the ones responsible for the 9/11 attacks, right?
Oh, yeah, and Osama Bin Laden can run, but he can't hide? Or was his name really Osama Bin Forgotten?
So does it really matter that McCain wants to cut the taxes on big oil companies, instead of using those taxes for their intended purpose: maintaining interstate highways and bridges? I guess not. People like bungee jumping, even if they happen to be in their cars, without a bungee cord....
Anti-war rhetoric and economics really don't mix well. If I am a neocon, then so be it, but the war against Islamic terrorism was and is necessary. Since 9/11, Islamofascists have carried out something in the neighborhood of 12,000 terrorist attacks against innocents ...and I don't want them doing it here anymore, do you?
In 2002, the county was united in this thinking, now the extreme left is re-writing history. Sadly, American patriotism has died at the hands of its the disloyal opposition.
As for economics, the Socialist Left and its Media allies are out to pull the plug on the longest run of economic growth that this country has ever experienced. Capitalism is being attacked on all fronts and Environmentalism, the last haven for Communists, is slowly sapping us of our comfortable lifestyle using junk science.
Government has never contributed a nit toward economic growth, so whatever Kemp Economics are do not fit my world view. As for McCain's flip-flop ...I have always said he is a Democrat.
If you want to fight a war, declare one.
Since 9/11, Islamofascists have carried out something in the neighborhood of 12,000 terrorist attacks against innocents