[Smurf-316]

September 21, 2008
Fact Check: Did Obama vote 94 times for higher taxes?

From CNN's Josh Levs
Did Obama vote to raise taxes more than 90 times?



The statement:
"He said he won't raise taxes for most people, but he's voted 94 times in his short Senate career for tax increases and against tax cuts."
-Sen. John McCain, at a campaign stop in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Friday Sept. 19, 2008

The facts:
The effort to convince voters that Sen. Barack Obama would support higher taxes is a central part of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. McCain and the Republican National Committee have repeatedly cited 94 alleged votes by Obama to bolster their argument.
Factcheck.org, a non-partisan project of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center, pieced through records to determine just what these 94 votes were. Key findings:
-23 were against proposed tax cuts
-7 were "for measures that would have lowered taxes for many, while raising them on a relative few, either corporations or affluent individuals"
-11 were to increase taxes on people making more than $1 million a year, to help fund programs such as Head Start, school nutrition, or veterans' health care
-53 were votes on budget resolutions or amendments that "could not have resulted by themselves in raising taxes," though many "were clear statements of approval for increased taxes"
- The total includes multiple votes on the same measures
Annenberg says a close look at the record reveals that Obama has "voted consistently to restore higher tax rates on upper-income taxpayers but not on middle- or low-income workers."

Verdict:
Misleading. McCain's summary ignores the fact that some of the votes were for measures to lower taxes for many Americans, while increasing them for a much smaller number of taxpayers. A nonpartisan examination also finds that the 94 total includes multiple votes on the same measures and budget votes that would not directly lead to higher taxes.

[metermaidbf1]

They both mislead for crying out loud, I want to know more about his relationship with Bill Ayres. You can vote yea or nay on many measures, but it is usually not on the measure it is because of the pork you object to and want to interject. Hussein's track record has been to vote "present". Fanny Mae has given him the 2nd most money of all contributions and he has been in the Senate for 3 years and spent virtually none of it in the Senate. He's hip deep in this stock market crash. When you vote for him, I will cancel your vote, but if he wins and the country goes to hell, you have to live with that decision. If McCain was a true maverick he would attack the hell out of his associations anbd socialist tendencies!

[Smurf-316]

Your post indicates EXACTLY what is wrong with this election.
All McStain wants to do is talk about Obama instead of the REAL issues. I don't want to hear what he says about Obama. I wanna know what he is going to do for me and America! This Obama thing has got to end. but being he's getting his azz handed to him in ALMOST all the battleground states he has resorted to this BS!

[metermaidbf1]

He isn't taking a political stance and it is driving me nuts! I don't want to hear political graffiti, I want to hear solutions and it isn't happpening!

[metermaidbf1]

Nobama isn't a solution, I would rather the hildebeast than this unknown quantity, who favors the Islamic call to prayer as the sweetest sound on earth

[metermaidbf1]

BTW, don't believe the polls that represent 3,000 likely voters, worry about it on election day with 120 million actual voters. That's where you will see the real change!

[wdp]

Personally I don't think Obama will continue the socialization of Wall Street.

Ragardless of who wins the election in Nov., taxes will have to be raised. Bush43 will leave deficits of 1. $438 billion (stated deficit), 2. $120 billion unfunded war cost, 3. $824 billion for the bail out of Wall Street, 4. Unknown.

These figures do not incorporate the $5 trillion dollars from Bush43's preceeding 6 years. (Please note: When Clinton left office his administration left Bush43 a quarter trillion dollar surplus).

These cost of a minimum of $1,382,000,000,000 (one trillion three hundred eighty four billion dollars) is for one year. To that figure we must add the $720 billion dollar balance of trade deficit.

Basically, the next president will start their administration with a $ 2 trillion dollar plus deficit.

Whomever is the next president will have to raise taxes or the US government will shut down. The problem is not that taxes have to be raised, but whose taxes will be raised.

respectfully,

wdp

[metermaidbf1]

Hell, I vote that we raise your taxes and your taxes only by 1,000 percent. It's amazing how much libs like to give public money but not their own! If you know a damn thing about taxes, you know that we fund 25% GDP of the world with our taxes alone. What would be wrong with stopping our extracurricular tax activations and applying them to America!

[metermaidbf1]

And by the way, Bush doesn't determine what the taxes are! He gets that info from the Democratic majority in the house and the Senate. Both of which have lower ratings than him!!

[metermaidbf1]

wdp, I guess you forgot terrorists and everything, I hope you feel safe? Do you? If you say yes, it is because of GW. If you say no it is because of BC, make an argument and that dumb guy you call GW will protect you! I guess it sucks to have a real man protect you.