Obama Criticizes McCain on Taxes

[Pirate Smile]

Source: Associated Press

CHICAGO) — Democratic Sen. Barack Obama said Thursday that Sen. John McCain reversed his position on President Bush's deep tax cuts in order to win the Republican presidential nomination, one of his sharpest criticisms yet of the Arizona senator he hopes to face this fall.

Criticizing GOP efforts to extend major tax cuts from Bush's first term and to eliminate the estate tax, Obama said: "These are all steps that John McCain rightly said were irresponsible when they first came up."

"He made a decision to reverse himself on that," Obama told reporters as he flew from Chicago to Washington for a series of Senate votes on budget issues.

"That was how, I guess, you got your ticket punched to be the Republican nominee," he said of McCain. "But he was right then, and he's wrong now."

McCain has said he supports extending the tax cuts, which he initially voted against, because the economy is struggling and tax reductions offer some stimulus.
Obama has proposed an array of subsidies for higher education, health care and other costs hitting middle-class families. He said he believes he can pay for such plans by closing tax loopholes, placing a new tax on carbon emissions, phasing out the Iraq war and ending the Bush tax cuts for the nation's highest earners.



Read more: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,172204...

[Kolesar]

1. Tax cuts were dimbulb Bush's response to his 2000 rival, Steve Forbes, who was running on that issue

Bush is way too stupid to think something like this up. Forbes actually had something that would get him the endorsements of conservatives and conservative newspaper editors (that would include most newspaper editors).

So, early in his "campaign", bush lifted Forbes ideas and made them his own. We have the deficits to show for it.

[Tempest]

2. Now watch as Hillary

Comes back with an attack on Obama.

At least that's been her M.O. of late.

[Pirate Smile]

4. They will both go after him.

[hwmnbn]

3. This is the winning strategy...

start wailing exclusively on McCain. Give the rest of the nation a preview of the general election. Make it a relentless and daily assault on the repug nominee's positions.

The more energy used to weaken and destroy the repugs, the less energy wasted on infighting.

[coalition_unwilling]

6. Persaonlly, I think Obama should be going after McLame's "100 Years in Iraq"

policy stance. Just keep hammering McLame with it over and over and over . . .

[9119495]

5. Oh yeah...there is a repbulican in the race...

The media almost made me forget.

[brooklynite]

7. Here's a simple, SERIOUS question to ask McCain

"You propose, as the core of your economic strategy, to make the Bush tax cuts permanent". But the working class and middle class people suffering today despite continuing to get whatever advantage the tax cuts originally provided. How will continuing the tax cuts make anything better?"

[PSPS]

8. IT'S ABOUT FUCKING TIME!

We need more of this. Both Obama and Clinton should be campaigning against McSame, not against each other. The tenor of both campaigns has become churlish and unproductive.