FLIP-FLOP: McCain Voted For Bush Tax Cuts And Defended The Flip-Flop As A Legislative Gimmick. John McCain voted to extend tax cuts supported by the president that were set to expire between 2005 and 2010. “The Senate voted 53-47…in favor of extending the president's investor tax cuts on dividends and capital gains. Joining in this breakthrough vote was John McCain, the senator who voted against these tax cuts when they were introduced in 2003. This is an important shift for the GOP presidential frontrunner[.]” McCain’s vote was described as “a sharp reversal of his anti-tax-cut posture,” though he defended the shift, saying, “it was a gimmick,” reasoning that “the tax cuts were temporary and then had to be made permanent.” [1]
FLIP-FLOP-FLIP: McCain Voted Against The Repeal Of The Estate Tax, Then Voted For It, Then Explained How He Really Opposed It. After McCain voted with all but one of his Republican colleagues for cloture on the “Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act,” which failed 57-41, he was asked about the vote “to give multimillionaires a permanent estate tax cut,” which McCain explained by saying he still opposed the repeal. McCain said, “I voted, I still oppose a complete repeal of the Estate Tax. And at the time, I said I would like to take care of family farms, businesses, et cetera at a certain level. I still support that proposal that we could take care of 99.9 percent of American families, businesses, farms, et cetera at setting it at five million, eight million with a reduction down to 15 percent in the rate.” [2]
2003: McCain Was Against Tax Cuts Because It Will Worsen the Deficit Before It Ever Helps the Economy.” Senator McCain rejected “Bush's tax cuts, especially the $1.37 trillion blockbuster Bush pushed through Congress in 2001, criticizing its economic premises and its likely impact. At best, it's a long-term economic stimulus, not the immediate boost the economy needs, McCain said. ‘All the predicates for the 2001 tax cuts and all the predictions for its results were absolutely, completely wrong,’ he said. And it will worsen the deficit before it ever helps the economy, he added.” [3]
Recent taxes/deficit stories
'Three Times'
Senator Barack Obama released the following ad on the real tax relief he would provide to hard working, middle-class Americans. And what do the same middle-class Americans get from John McCain? Bupkis. Meanwhile, 101 million American families get nothing in...
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Another McCain Distortion Ad Debunked
Once again, Deputy Director of Economic Policy Brian Deese breaks down the lies and distortions in the latest McCain attack ad on taxes....
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Add It to the List
Another McCain-authored bill that McCain 2.0 wouldn’t vote for: The campaign of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is declining to embrace McCain’s own 1998 tobacco bill, legislation that would have raised taxes to the tune of $516...
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McCain Attack Ad Debunked
Brian Deese, an economic adviser to Senator Barack Obama, debunks one of John McCain's numerous negative attack ads filled with distortions. Deese takes viewers through a typical McCain attack ad on taxes and lays out all the facts on the...
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More Dishonest McCain Attacks
Throw John McCain's latest dishonest attack ad on the heap of other dishonest attack ads released by their campaign. John McCain is running an entirely negative campaign. That's what happens when you run on the politics of the past and...