McCain: Obama Would Harm Middle Class

At Colorado Rally, Republican Links Opponent To Democratic Congress, Ridicules Idea Of Raising Any Taxes During Crisis

(AP)  Republican presidential nominee John McCain said Friday that if his Democratic rival Barack Obama is elected along with a Democratic Congress the middle class is "going to be put through the wringer."

McCain told a noisy rally in Denver, "The answer to a slowing economy is not higher taxes, but that is exactly what is going to happen when the Democrats have total control in Washington."

Obama has proposed a tax increase on the 5 percent of taxpayers who make more than $250,000 a year and advocates tax cuts for those who make less.

The Arizona senator ridiculed the idea that any tax increases would be narrowly targeted and, at the same time, sought to link Obama to the unpopular Congress.

"Anytime you hear talk of a targeted tax increase, you might want to double-check the skill of the marksman - the U.S Congress has been known to fire wildly," McCain said. "America didn't become the greatest nation on earth by giving our money to the government to spread the wealth around."

The meltdown in financial markets and the national economic downturn have helped undermine McCain's standing in the polls nationally and in key battleground states because Obama is viewed more favorably than McCain on handling economic issues.

McCain continued to bash his rival as Obama left the campaign trail to visit the very ill grandmother who helped rear him.

"Sen. Obama says he's trying to soak the rich, but it's the middle class who are going to be put through the wringer, because a lot of his promised tax increase misses the target," said McCain. He said Obama's tax plans would boost taxes for half the nation's small businesses, a figure Obama disputes.

Speaking as the stock market plummeted again, McCain said he would focus on working families.

"I'm not going to spend $750 billion dollars of your money just bailing out the Wall Street bankers and brokers who got us into this mess," said McCain. "I'm going to make sure we take care of the working people who were devastated by the excesses of Wall Street and Washington."

Both McCain and Obama backed the $700 billion financial rescue package that President Bush signed into law.

McCain's plan to use half that money to have the government buy up troubled mortgages at full face value and then negotiate easier loan terms with the homeowners has been criticized by Democrats and a number of conservative Republicans on grounds it would not force profligate lenders to share in the losses from their bad loans.

Chanting protesters briefly interrupted McCain, but he dismissed them, saying voters "want us to stop shouting at each other." Police led the protesters, who were advocating rights for the disabled, from the arena.

McCain trails in most polls for Colorado's nine electoral votes, but he's scheduled three stops in the state and offered an optimistic prediction.

"This is going to be a tough state, but we're going to be up late and we're going to win here," McCain said.

At one point, he said "if I'm elected president," and quickly corrected himself to "when I'm elected president."

McCain had events in Colorado Springs and Durango, all focused on the economy, before he was to fly off to New Mexico, yet another battleground state. His schedule also contained a brief stop in Texas, then a visit to Iowa.

[armydog2]

mccain and palin are the real threat to the middle class. get lost John.

[interobserv]

OK. Now it''s beginning to happen. Senator McCain is settling into the notion that he likely will not win with his "if I am elected" staement. His attacks have less and less traction! The fact that he is going to Texas (where his lead has slipped to single digits) is further indication that the good Senator from Arizona realizes that he now has a legacy to protect - not an election to win.

[alainva]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoseBNetlEk&eurl=http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/954

[standlee5]

McCain has it wrong. There won''t be a middle class. There''ll just be one flat line class of equality. Won''t it be grand. sunshine and rainbows.

[dzemog1]

Gee, I don''t know. Do you really think the campaign would''ve continued on this long, with Hillary waiting in the wings, if there was ANY doubt of Obama''s US citizenship? Give me a break. Ask it as many times as you want, but it won''t change the answer. Kind of McCain saying Obama will hurt the middle class won''t suddenly become true just because he keeps saying it. Then again, what''s the guy to do? He''s getting killed in early voting and all signs are pointing towards an embarassment of massive proportions on Nov 4th. It doesn''t matter what he says anymore. It''s over.

[roberttxdem]

It seems like Sen. McShame has stepped up his "piling on" even more while Sen. Obama is away attending to his gravely ill grandmother. Is that piling on, or kicking a man while he is down. I used to like McCain, but I only have disdain for him and his attack pitbull.

[irmcvet97]

If Obama wins there will be no middle class. Only poor people, controlled by the government. Freedom will be lost...

Posted by mr22585 at 03:37 PM : Oct 24, 2008

LOL Are YOU on another PLANET!? ROFLMAO The STANDARD OF LIVING in this NATION has NEVER, NOT ONCE, gone up under TRICKLE DOWN! PLEASE stop embarrassing yourself and take a night course or two. The Economic Plan proposed by Obama is THE SAME as the one BILL CLINTON had and that one sure wasn''t to bad... Good Grief!!

[airboatboy1]

Ol''John''s sure isn''t the best at given a speech, is he? And it''s the same thing over and over. And his wife! She stands in the background with that frozen look on her face. She better take John to one of the houses and get that old man some rest.

[DCropp]

I compared tax plans.

My wife and I both have worked hard in America for over 20 years.

Obama/Biden plan...My family will receive $1500
McCain/Palin plan...we receive $228

Sorry McCain and Palin, for families across America, you need to stop lying.

Sounds like Mr. Exxon(McCain)has finally got the message and has said the words "middle class".

[agidoi]

if you wish for socialism then vote for obama

[be_real]

McCain: Obama Would Harm Middle Class



Here we go again with McBush - twisting and misleading the public with his LIES.............

[richardharr2]

Yes, Obama will hurt everyone.

I am a 58 year old graphic designer who has worked hard all my life to achieve the American dream, mostly in my own business.
Thankfully, I now make 60,000 per year.
My wife struggled for years and now makes about 250,000 per year.
We are not hurting but WE ARE NOT RICH.
Between saving for retirement, medical costs,putting money away for the 5 grandkids college, and a lot of maintenance on our aging home, we don''t have a lot of disposable income.
When taxing us the services we will cut to make ends meet is our gardener, housekeeper, restaraunts etc. All services I can do myself.
I plan on buying a new car next year. I can make do with the one I have for a few more years. Do you have something against GM and their employees?

Some of my favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants will not survive an Obama presidency. I can cook my own dinners, but what is going to happen to them and their employees? Go on welfare? I would rather pay them to fix my dinner than pay you to send them a welfare check.
What about my vacation? I will survive staying home, but what about all the people who will benefit from that?
You seem to not like small businesses. They are the engine of our economy. Do you want it to slow down to a crawl?
Do you want people to loose their jobs?
Every time you try and create a short cut to the American dream, you end up hurting the people (you say) you are trying to help.

[be_real]

if you wish for socialism then vote for obama

Posted by agidoi at 03:46 PM : Oct 24, 2008



Your and my taxes were just used to spread the wealth,YES! We just gave $700B to wall street, this kind of bailout is also use on socialist countries, BUDDY....

[agidoi]

i''ve been a dem. for to many year''s and have seen how to date they have ruin the usa changing side''s

[liberalme]

Is It True That Sen. Obama Is NOT A Legal or Naturalized Citizen of the United States of America and Therefore Not Eligible To Be Our President?


I heard there was still one person who believed this---nice to meet ya!

You''re an idiot--

Obama IS a US citizen--the only other affiliation he has was as a child he was given citizenship in Indonesia as a courtesy through his mother--that citizenship ended when Obama was 21--Obama was sent back to the states by his mother when he was 10 to get a better education--and he''s been here since then.

[thinkharder-]

If Obama wins there will be no middle class. Only poor people, controlled by the government. Freedom will be lost...

Posted by mr22585 at 03:37 PM : Oct 24, 2008

How so? You people whoa re all up in arms about the "spread the wealth" idea really mystify me. If you oppose this idea you can only possibly be one of two things...either you are making over a quarter mil. a year, or your delusional. The GOP has had power for 20 of the last 28 years. The trickle down theory they have held fast to all this time has done NOTHING but squeeze the middle class for what little money they are worth. They provide all the tax incentives for the rich and claim that the fruits of their infallible ways will rain down upon us so we can all reap the benefit. Only problem...this has never happened. These guys increased the gap between the classes...empowering themselves and taking over our government with lobbying rights. Now is the time...this stops now. Its about time we get the breaks and they can sit idly by and wait for our fruits to trickle up. We''ve been groveling and begging for their crumbs for too long...now, in the wake of the biggest criminal heist in history occurring on Wall Street we can turn the tides. It''s time for the wealthy to sit back and wait for our spending power to worm its way up to them.

[meboard]

I absolutely agree with you OneAmerican7...but you need to sub in "Republicans" for "Democrats".
Your''s in christ...

[jaxspp]

It''s over for Mr. Nebbercracker. By election day 30% of the country will have already voted and Zogby is showing them +20 for Obama.

[dinkydog1]

i''''ve been a dem. for to many year''''s and have seen how to date they have ruin the usa changing side''''s


Posted by agidoi at 03:51 PM : Oct 24, 2008

.............................

That didn''t make a da*n bit if sense.

[thinkharder-]

Thankfully, I now make 60,000 per year.
My wife struggled for years and now makes about 250,000 per year.
We are not hurting but WE ARE NOT RICH.

Sorry pal, but you are. If between the two of you, you''re clearing over 300k...you are well in this countries top 5% of earners. If you are feeling squeezed, you are either living beyond your means, or having too many kids for your own good, and mine.

[misha128-2009]

if you wish for socialism then vote for obama

Posted by agidoi at 03:46 PM

Obama''s tax plans utilize traditional US income tax policy using deductions, credits, rate changes and bracket adjustments to provide economic guidance to the country. It has been done under most presidents and by both parties. It is clearly the American Way.

[agidoi]

yes be-real now the gov. wants to bail out the bank''s another step there

[agidoi]

i have voted dem. for 42 year''s dinkydog1. but now is not the time to go socialize

[misha128-2009]

Posted by wimpleman at 03:55 PM

Why must he or any one else be called something other than American or more properly a US Citizen?

[steamed2]

It''s amazing to see McCain and the Republicans trying to convince the ''middle class'' that they''ve been fighting for us, after decades of unregulated business (which sadly has come to mean unregulated greed) they have financially ruined the country for decades yet to come. McCain''s problem is that we have now all had it amply demonstrated that the GOP''s famous mantra of ''trickle down theory'' really means ''you can have whatever trickles down our leg''. Listening to the McCain camp in these last few weeks, you wonder if they have an ethical thought in their heads. ''Excuse, confuse, accuse, then obfuscate'', the complete Republican playbook for Presidential elections.

[thinkharder-]

So why does barry obama call himself afrcn-American
and not White-American?

Posted by wimpleman at 03:55 PM : Oct 24, 2008

Because, Einstein. White-American is a race-ethnicity combination. So, it makes no sense. African-American is an ethnicity-ethnicity combination describing the two COUNTRIES from which his ancestors derive.

[emptynester6]

No instead he will spend $150,000 of our money to outfit his 3rd wife.

[dnsallday]

Boy Halloween must be in the air. McCain and Palin are running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to scare as many sections of the electorate as possible!

[be_real]

OBAMA will be a good president, Stop with all the cacamedia BS, misleading stories.

McCain should have picked Romney. However, Palin is not to bright, don''t know much and will be easy to manipulate.

McCain saw a big $ sign when he married Cindy 18yrs her senior. McCain is a women manipulator and coniving.

[gotravel1]

I''m glad to see some common sense emerging.How could we possibly think Obama would be good for the middle class when his enormous programs which will be heaped upon by Pelosi,Reid and every other Democrat will foot us with the bill.Lincoln had it right when he said:"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich,You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong,You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift,You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down..." If individuals and small businesses are taxed more heavily,the economy suffers.Additionally,for those of you who have confidence on Obama''s CHANGE mantra,look at the state of his home of Chicago.Crime is rampant,schools are a mess,no decrease in poverty,and corruption everywhere.How can you possibily have faith in someone who hasn''t affected any positive change in his 10 years in Chicago?he accepts money from convicted felons,Rezko,support from felon Kwame Kirkpatrick,has as his mentor Jeremiah Wright who preaches hate for America,whites and Jews,is supported by Louis farrahkan,and the list goes on.Obama shouldn''t have even been considered.It''s a sad commentary on the Democratic party that they didn''t select a more qualified,forthright candidate.

[agidoi]

he''s african ancestor is only 1/10 pc and also he is not from slavery ancestry

[apachelx]

You decide this information is from a New Party news letter. Evidence has emerged that Sen. Barack Obama belonged to a socialist political party that sought to elect members to public office with the aim of moving the Democratic Party far leftward to ultimately form a new political party with a socialist agenda.

Several blogs, including Powerline, previously documented that while running for the Illinois state Senate in 1996 as a Democrat, Obama actively sought and received the endorsement of the socialist-oriented New Party, with some blogs claiming Obama was a member of the controversial party.

The New Party, formed by members of the Democratic Socialists for America and leaders of an offshoot of the Community Party USA, was an electoral alliance that worked alongside the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. The New Party''s aim was to help elect politicians to office who espouse its policies.

Excerpt from New Party publication (Courtesy New Zeal blog)

[dnsallday]

Thankfully, I now make 60,000 per year.
My wife struggled for years and now makes about 250,000 per year.
We are not hurting but WE ARE NOT RICH.
********************************************************* Only the taxable income over and above the 250,000 gets taxed at a 3.5% rate higher than the first 250,000.
There is a tax calculator on barackobama.com where you can figure out exactly how much you will be investing in your country.

[sleepyric]

I am the middle class. I''ve read both candidates pages. I have a brain. I can decide things. I have a nose and know when something stinks. I smell McCain. He stinks. All through this long campaign he has failed to come up with any plans of his own. he "borrows" the best ideas from other, and spins them as his own. He is an angry man. He thinks since he was unfortunate to be a POW, (and has spin his whole political career around that), that he is owed the presidency. His judgement in picking Palin demonstrates his tendency to gamble. To use gimmicks. To shoot from the hip. He is not the person I want to be president. He is the old generation. Old thinking. Old ideas (Reagan''s). No dice. We tried all that. The only time in the last 20 years the economy thrived was during Clinton''s presidency. Like him or hate him (Clinton), this country was booming. People were making money hand over fist. This can happen again. No more war with $10billion a month. Iraqis don''t want us there anyhow. Concentrate on Afghanistan. That''s where the real threat is. Send half the army that''s in Iraq to Afghanistan, and we''ll be out of there in a year. I am the middle class. I''m tired of all this *** around. Get down to business, and clean up Bush''s mess. Stop all this negative BS.

[jsilver2th]

Ha Ha McCain Palin will go down in history with the big loosers Goldwater Miller-- ha ha ha ha

New Psychic Poll results:

McCain Palin carry only the following states:

Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Alaska.

Arizona goes for Obama!

[emptynester6]

I have voted Republican in all elections except Peroe. For the first time I am pulling the lever for the Democrates.

Proud member of the Republicans for Obama group! :)

[jntlw-2009]

McCain''s remarks like this just demonstrate how "dumber than a doorknob" he are. He is so desparate and out of touch, and the lies are becoming more preposterous by the minute. John you are not presidential- you are loosing it in a big way!

[nolalou]

McCain is desperate, and is now saying anything that happens to pop into his head! (you know, like Biden has been known to do!)

McCain offers no relief for the middle class, just extended Bush tax cuts for the wealthy! If that policy was helping the middle class, how come it hasn''t worked during the last 8 years!

[agidoi]

obama never has pinpointed his changes so where do you stand

[agidoi]

and you don''t think obama isn''t?

[be_real]

OBAMA/BIDEN 08 AND 12. WHAT ABOUT THAT GOP?

[troyvaldez1]

Does McCain believe that people earning $250,000 or more are in the middle class? Get real . . . just shows how out of touch. When you are losing lie. McCain really is just more of the same.

[dirtsof2008]

Despite encouragement from Joe the Plumber, McCain is slipping away from Ohio, the state of Joe the Plumber. I wonder why?????

[agidoi]

don''t forget the dem.''s did away with your s/s emptynester6

[curtdog1959]

Taxs!! I just payed 50 thousand in taxes last year under the Republican party!! So shut up on the tax issue cause republicans had 8 years to screw up this country and how can''t stand that people are hurting cause of them and we want all of you out of office!

[jschmidt27]

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2008/10/23/would-obama-dems-kill-401k-plans.html
With Obama as Pres and Democrats running Congress this the type of policies you''ll get to take choice away from investors and create a huge slushfund for the Dems to say they balanced the budget.
House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks
Workforce Management ^ | October 16, 2008 | Sara Hansard

House Democrats recently invited Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School of Social Research, to testify before a subcommittee on her idea to eliminate the preferential tax treatment of the popular retirement plans. In place of 401(k) plans, she would have workers transfer their dough into government-created %u201Cguaranteed retirement accounts%u201D for every worker. The government would deposit $600 (inflation indexed) every year into the GRAs. Each worker would also have to save 5 percent of pay into the accounts, to which the government would pay a measly 3 percent return. Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee%u2019s Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, said that since %u201Cthe savings rate isn%u2019t going up for the investment of $80 billion [in 401(k) tax breaks], we have to start to think about whether or not we want to continue to invest that $80 billion for a policy that%u2019s not generating what we now say it should.%u201D

[troyvaldez1]

Does McCain believe that people earning $250,000 or more are in the middle class? Get real . . . just shows how out of touch. When you are losing lie. McCain really is just more of the same.

[agidoi]

we havent had a good dem. since jfk

[jschmidt27]

Obama said in April that only those making less than 75k would get tax relief. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_15/b4079017876246_page_2.htm The WSJ article says below that taxing the over 250k crowd will not pay for Obama''s programs.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122463231048556587-email.htmlIn 2006, the latest year for which we have Census data, 220 million Americans were eligible to vote and 89 million -- 40% -- paid no income taxes. According to the Tax Policy Center (a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute), this will jump to 49% when Mr. Obama''s cash credits remove 18 million more voters from the tax rolls. What''s more, there are an additional 24 million taxpayers (11% of the electorate) who will pay a minimal amount of income taxes -- less than 5% of their income and less than $1,000 annually.In all, three out of every five voters will pay little or nothing in income taxes under Mr. Obama''s plans and gain when taxes rise on the 40% that already pays 95% of income tax revenues.The plunder that the Democrats plan to extract from the "very rich" -- the 5% that earn more than $250,000 and who already pay 60% of the federal income tax bill -- will never stretch to cover the expansive programs Mr. Obama promises.What next?