Wednesday, April 16, 2008

McCain: $ave the Corporations!

Yesterday GOP presidential nominee John McCain offered his prescription for solving the devastating economic problems facing working-class Americans.

Spur corporate growth.

Yep.... he's offering more corporate welfare.

In what McSame terms his most comprehensive economic plan to date, he proposes to slash corporate income tax rates by 10%, and offers a grab bag of other business benefits.

Like....tax write offs for the cost of new equipment and technology and a permanent tax credit for R&D. He would suspend the federal gasoline taxes for the summer driving season.... taxes which maintain a highway system already on life support.

And, in what McSame calls his "middle-class tax cut," a repeal of the alternative minimum tax. A tax paid by 43 million taxpayers of which 93 percent earn between $200,000 and $1 million. This is McCain's definition of the working middle-class?

And.... no surprise.... he'll make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

You can read the ugly details here, "McCain's Plan for Working Class Offers Plenty for Corporate World." (WaPo)

Just what will McSame's proposals cost in tax revenue a year.... McSame's estimate is about $200 billion, which he said would be offset by avoiding Congressional earmarks, growth in the economy and other unnamed sources.

Savings on earmarks is like turning off the night light to lower your electric bill.

Total Congressional earmarks for fiscal year 2008 numbered 11,780 worth 18.3 billion.... a 23% cut in earmarks from the FY 2005 high.

So, this leaves $181.7 billion from voodoo sources to cover the revenue shortfall.... sure. That's going to happen. This is Bush redux. Nothing more than a rehash of the Decider's failed economic policies with tax cuts for the wealthiest and corporations.

And don't forget, McSame has declared he's keeping troops in Iraq.... a monstrously costly occupation literally breaking our economic back.

One thing McSame has told us that we can take to the bank.... he doesn't know much about the economy.

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