McCain promises change and reform, but he lies

[hfojvt]

and that's more of the same

McCain uses the same lies, pessimism and twenty year old talking points

McCain says:
“Raising taxes and unilaterally renegotiating trade agreements as they have promised would make a bad economy even worse ..."

First the lie, and a typical lie - "raising taxes" leaving out the true proposal "on incomes over $250,000". There's a big difference between "raising taxes" and "raising taxes on incomes over $250,000".

Some quotes from Paul Begala's "It's still the economy, stupid" show that McCain is saying "more of the same" doom and gloom that Republicans always peddle about tax increases on the rich. Talking about the Clinton tax plan in 1993, this is the Republican talking point:

"I believe this will lead to a recession next year. This is the Democrat Machine's recession and each one will be held personally accountable." Newt Gingrich

"We are buying a one-way ticket to a recession." Phil Gramm

"It's like a snakebite. The venom is going to be injected into the body of this economy; in our judgement it's going to spread throughout the body and it's going to begin to kill the jobs that Americans have." John Kasich

"I really do not think it takes a rocket scientist to know this bill will cost jobs." Charles Grassley

"It is going to hurt the economy dramatically. They are going to do irreparable harm to this economy." Dan Burton

"April Fool, America. This Clinton budget plan will not create jobs, will not grow the economy, and will not reduce the deficit." Pete Domenici

The Clinton plan "will grow the government and shrink the economy. It will mean fewer jobs for ordinary Americans." Dick Armey

They change their arguments for every circumstance, but the conclusion is always the same - lower taxes for rich people. If the economy is good, then we can afford it, and if the economy is bad, then it is the perfect medicine to stimulate the economy. On the other hand tax increases on the rich, they say, are not a good idea during a recession. Or after a recession either, since a tax increase on the rich will cause a recession.

I did some research for a recent LTTE about this Republican Talking Point that "low taxes lead to prosperity" and here is my summary:

According to the Tax Foundation, Kansas was 15th in 2004, but is 21st in 2008 with a tax rate of 9.6%. However, the lists there really disprove the Americans for Prosperity's argument. There seems to be no relationship between tax rates and prosperity.
New Jersey, for example, has the highest tax rate at 11.8%, but their per capita income is $56,116. Per capita income for the U.S. is $42,254 and for Kansas is $40,784. Connecticut has the 3rd highest tax rate at 11.1%, but their per capita income is $63,160! Alaska, on the other hand, has the lowest tax rate (thanks to their oil revenue) at 6.4%, but their per capita income is only $44,872. Other states like Alabama (38th) and New Mexico (39th) have low tax rates and also low per capita income, less than $36,400.

The worst thing, however, about state taxes is typically their lack of progressivity. In Kansas, for example, households making less than $20,000 pay a tax rate of 12% whereas households making over $200,000 only pay a tax rate of 7.7%. A tax increase on the rich would only make these rates fairer.

[Phred42]

1. Grampy is not lying

Change to a republican is having different republicans doing the same things.

End of today's lesson in being a good republican

[hfojvt]

2. he's still lying about Obama's tax plans.

"Good" Republicans probably still support the Bush tax cuts and believe the lie that they help the middle class. McCain does promise to change the "pork barrel spending" which Republicans have been using to buy votes during the Bush administration. Actually that probably would be a good way to defeat a bunch of Democratic incumbents. Then their Republican opponents would claim "they have not done anything for our district"