McCain
misrepresents Obama's tax proposals again. And again, and again
By Brooks Jackson | factcheck.org
Aug 9, 2008 | Updated: 12:35 p.m. ET Aug 9, 2008
McCain released three new ads with
multiple false and misleading claims about Obama's tax proposals.
A TV spot claims Obama once voted for a tax increase
"on people making just $42,000 a year." That's true for a single
taxpayer, who would have seen a tax increase of $15 for the year – if
the measure had been enacted. But the ad shows a woman with two children,
and as a single mother, she would not have been affected unless she made
more than $62,150. The increase that Obama once supported as part of a
Democratic budget bill is not part of his current tax plan anyway.
A Spanish-language radio ad claims the measure
Obama supported would have raised taxes on "families" making
$42,000, which is simply false. Even a single mother with one child would
have been able to make $58,650 without being affected. A family of four
with income up to $90,000 would not have been affected.
The TV ad claims in a graphic that Obama would
"raise taxes on middle class." In fact, Obama's plan promises
cuts for middle-income taxpayers and would increase rates only for persons
with family incomes above $250,000 or with individual incomes above $200,000.
The radio ad claims Obama would increase taxes
"on the sale of your home." In fact, home-sale profits of up
to $500,000 per couple would continue to be exempt from capital gains
taxes. Very few sales would see an increase under Obama's proposal to
raise the capital gains rate.
A second radio ad, in English, says, "Obama
has a history of raising taxes" on middle-class Americans. But that's
false. It refers to a vote that did not actually result in a tax increase
and could not have done so.
These ads continue what's become a pattern of misrepresentation
by the McCain campaign about his opponent's tax proposals.
Analysis
Sen. John McCain's campaign released the 30-second spot Aug. 8. Campaign
spokesman Brian Rogers said the ad would be running in Colorado, Iowa,
Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Virginia and Wisconsin.
John McCain 2008 Ad: "Painful"
Announcer: Life in the spotlight must be grand,
but for the rest of us times are tough.
Obama voted to raise taxes on people making just
$42,000.
He promises more taxes on small business, seniors,
your life savings, your family.
Painful taxes, hard choices for your budget. Not
ready to lead. That's the real Obama.
McCain: I'm John McCain and I approved this message.
The ad continues McCain's pattern of misrepresenting
Sen. Barack Obama's tax proposals as falling on middle-income families.
It claims that Obama "promises more taxes on small businesses, seniors,
your life savings, your family." But that's untrue for the vast majority
of small businesses, seniors and individual taxpayers, who would see their
taxes go down under Obama's actual plan. He proposes to increase taxes
only for those with more than $250,000 in family income, or $200,000 in
individual income.
Furthermore, if viewers are to believe that the
woman in McCain's ad is married and files taxes jointly with her husband,
the couple could make as much as $90,000 this year without being affected.
And anyway, as noted earlier, Obama isn't proposing to implement any such
increase in the 25 percent bracket.
(Tax tables for 2008 can be found here, including
the tax brackets, exemptions and exclusions that apply to income earned
this year.)
The TV ad also says that Obama "promises more
taxes on small business, seniors, your life savings, your family."
This statement is simply not true for the vast majority of viewers who
will see it. Obama, in fact, promises to deliver a $1,000 tax cut for
families making up to $150,000 a year, and he says he would increase income
tax rates, capital gains tax rates and taxes on dividends only for those
with family incomes over $250,000 a year, or for single taxpayers making
over $200,000.
Tax Deception en Español
McCain also released a 60-second, Spanish-language radio ad Aug. 8 with
additional deceptions, claiming that Obama would raise taxes on listeners'
income, savings and home sales, and falsely claiming that he had voted
to increase taxes on "families" making $42,000 a year.
John McCain 2008 Radio Ad: "Are You Ready
For Obama?"
(English translation supplied by McCain campaign)
Announcer: With the economy as bad as it is, gas
prices going up, home foreclosures, and jobs being lost, we need to be
careful about who we pick as our next president.
No doubt, Barack Obama is a popular figure, a celebrity
who says the right thing. But will he do the right thing?
So here's the question you need to ask yourself,
in these tough economic times, are you ready for a president who voted
for higher income taxes on working families making $42,000 a year?
Are you ready for Barack Obama, for his tax plans
that will hurt senior citizens?
Are you ready for the higher taxes on income, savings
and the sale of your home that Barack Obama promises?
It's not that you're not ready. Barack Obama is
not ready yet. Because when it comes to the economy, experience matters,
and he just doesn't have it.
He says he'll give you change, but that's what
he'll leave you with.
McCain: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.
The English-language translation supplied by the
McCain campaign says Obama voted for higher taxes on "working families"
making $42,000 a year. (In Spanish, it says Obama "voto para aumentarle
los impuestos a las familias que ganan 42,000 dolares al año.) The Spanish
for "working" does not actually appear in the ad, but either
way the claim is false.
As noted, what Obama once supported would have
increased taxes for a single taxpayer at that income level, but not for
a family. The smallest possible "family" would be a single parent
with a single child, and such a single parent would have to make $58,650
to have been affected. As noted, a family of four would have to make $90,000.
And in any case, Obama's plan would cut taxes for families at all those
levels, not increase them.
The ad also falsely claims Obama proposes higher
taxes on "the sale of your home." In fact, neither Obama nor
McCain propose any change in the current exemption for home sales, which
allow all profits to go untaxed up to $500,000 for a couple or $250,000
for a single person, provided that the home has been a primary residence
at least two of the previous five years. Obama has proposed an unspecified
increase in the tax rate for capital gains, but this would fall only on
home-sale profits that exceed the current exclusion and would therefore
affect only a very small percentage of all sellers.
False "History"
Later the same day, the McCain campaign released another 60-second radio
ad, titled "Recipe." This one is in English, and it's also misleading.
John McCain 2008 Radio Ad: "Recipe"
Announcer: Life in the spotlight must be grand
for Barack Obama. But is he ready to lead in tough economic times?
Official records document, Barack Obama has a history
of raising taxes – even on middle class Americans making just $42,000
a year.
If elected president, Obama's promises would mean
even more taxes on income, electricity, oil, small business, seniors,
your life savings, your family.
Painful taxes when times are tough enough.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal calls Obama's ideas
"a recipe for economic disaster."
The Washington Post says Obama's policies are "poorly
crafted" and will result in "higher prices at the pump."
And The Wall Street Journal reports Obama's plans
will "stunt small business" and threaten "America's economic
competitiveness."
More taxes. Higher gas prices. A recipe for economic
disaster.
That's the real Obama.
McCain: I'm John McCain and I approved this message.
Announcer: Paid for by John McCain 2008.
It says: "Official records document, Barack
Obama has a history of raising taxes – even on middle class Americans
making just $42,000 a year." But that's false. No taxes were increased,
and the vote that the McCain campaign refers to could not by itself have
resulted in any increase on anybody.
The measure for which Obama voted was a budget
bill for fiscal 2009. Budget bills set revenue and spending targets for
appropriations and tax-writing committees, but don't by themselves legislate
any changes in taxes or spending.
It is correct to say that Obama's vote showed a
preference for the Democratic budget package, which included an increase
in the 25 percent tax bracket, over the Republican alternatives. But it
is false to say that this amounts to "a history of raising taxes,"
since no taxes were actually increased. It is also misleading, as we've
noted, because Obama has campaigned consistently on a promise to cut taxes
for most taxpayers while raising them only on the most affluent.
A Continuing Pattern of Deceit
These three new McCain ads continue what has become a pattern of deceit,
with McCain repeatedly misrepresenting what Obama is proposing.
Here are some of McCain's previous false claims,
with links to previous analyses:
- McCain falsely claimed Obama's plan would increase
taxes on 23 million small-business owners, when the vast majority of them
would get a cut. Any increase would actually fall only on the most affluent,
a few hundred thousand business owners.
McCain falsely claimed Obama "says he'll
raise taxes on electricity," though Obama has said no such thing
and his tax plan contains no proposal for a tax on electricity.
Sources
"Individual Income Tax Brackets, 1945 - 2008." 4 November 2007.
Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, 7 July 2008.
U.S. Internal Revenue Service, "Topic 701
- Sale of Your Home," Web site accessed 8 Aug 2008.
Len Burman, et. al. "An Updated Analysis of
the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans." Urban-Brookings Tax
Policy Center, Revised 23 July 2008.
