THE PLANK AUGUST 15, 2008
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Rich Lowry urges John McCain to adopt a larger middle-class tax cut:
Speaking of Risks
The first one I'd take if I were the McCain people is going through whatever budgetary gymnastics are necessary for him to propose a substantial middle-class tax cut of some variety. They may feel "locked in" to the proposals McCain has already made, but consistency can be over-rated (especially if you aren't particularly vulnerable to a vacillating, flip-flopper narrative). Imagine if McCain had stayed consistent in his opposition to drilling—it would have been McCain and Obama united together against the GOP and the public. Until Obama changed—then, it would have been McCain all alone. Drilling was a flip-flop that paid off in a big way for McCain. I expect shifting his priorities to support a middle-class tax cut would do the same. He'd have something tangible to give the voters he most needs to win over, and it would give him maximum leverage for his attack on Obama as a tax-raiser.
Here's the problem. Because John McCain proposes such an enormous tax cut for the rich, Barack Obama can counter with a plan that offers lower tax rates than McCain's to the vast majority of taxpayers, while still bringing in dramatically higher revenues. The current McCain answer to this dilemma is to try to mislead the public into thinking that Obama favors middle-class tax hikes. McCain could, as Lowry suggests, throw in sub larger middle-class tax cuts to out-bid Obama. But his current plans are already so ridiculously expensive that... well, I don't want to say he can't do it, but at some point it gets too ridiculous.
--Jonathan Chait
6 comments
So, basically Rich is proposing that McCain lie his ass off in hopes of pulling in more middle-income voters. Brilliant!
- GSpinks
August 15, 2008 at 3:34pm
Jonathan, you're missing several important points. McCain takes logically inconsistent and contradictory positions all the time and never gets called on it by the press, so why should he stop now? And how does it matter what his tax policies are? They'll never be enacted into law without the approval of a lopsidedly Democratic Congress in any event.
- WayneJM
August 15, 2008 at 3:38pm
Why do the numbers matter? Why can't anyone promise a tax cut to whomever they please and then invent numbers that make them look good? That's what Bush did in 2000, and, with a little help from his friends, it worked. The articles at the time put out Gore's plans, compared them to Bush's plan, and then talked about how experts disagreed about their implications. The same jackasses are writing and reporting, so why not expect the same jackass results? Look for McCain to double down on dishonesty and get a free ride.
- propositionjoe
August 15, 2008 at 3:43pm
Joe -- it's what Clinton did too: compare "Putting People First" (his 1992 plank-book) to what came out of that "deficit summit" to what ended up getting passed after going through "The Agenda" ringer. As John Dickerson has illuminated over at Slate, Obama's plan is almost as ridiculous as McCain's. What I wish the press would do to both McCain and Obama is press them for "what-if" contingencies. What if the deficit has grown after your first year (two years?) How can we judge after a year (two years?) if your plan has worked -- give us a bright line.
- Lymon1
August 15, 2008 at 4:18pm
Lymon: Sure. I didn't mean to imply that factlessness (a neologism?) only benefited the right. As to your question, they won't answer hypotheticals.
- propositionjoe
August 15, 2008 at 4:36pm
prop joe, I have not seen factlessness before (the word, I mean, I have seen the state all to often). It is an excellent word with many applications to political discourse. Sadly.
- JEFF FREY
August 15, 2008 at 11:57pm