Obama slams Mccain: Corporate Tax Cuts & The Earmark Fallacy - Rachel Maddow comments

John McCain makes a big deal about his oppostion to earmarks. During the debate, Barack Obama juxtaposed McCain's taxcut proposal that would cost $300B with the $18B represented by earmarks.

While some earmarks are clearly booty from the taxpayer to local interests, many can be justified as sound policy. Obama could, if he wished, run an entire campaign, Congressional district by Congressional district, identifying a few "earmarked" expenditures that that district loves and that McCain voted against.

More to the point, however, is that McCain has voted for loads of tax loopholes during his 26 years in the Senate. Why loopholes are morally superior to earmarks escapes me.

Let us postulate that there are some justifiable earmarks and some justifiable loopholes. The arguments against the rest are both process and substance. The process, I'll-scratch-your-back-you-scratch-mine, however unseemly, is the same for both.

The substance is also identical. A loophole allows an individual, or company, or sector not to pay taxes on a certain category of income. The rest of us have to make up that shortfall. The earmark is most often a local project for which general tax revenues are spent. The rest of us have to pay for that too.

The Member of Congress takes credit for the earmark ("look at what I brought home for you") and the loophole, but the latter is rarely said aloud. That should tell us something. The earmark is more often a project for which the Member can tout its benefit to the larger community, whereas the beneficiaries of the loophole are likely to be more limited, but there are certainly examples on both sides that contradict this description.

Thus, Obama was on to something in his last debate with McCain, and the point ought to be made more emphatic. It would behoove his research staff to come up with examples of loopholes, and how much they cost the taxpayer, for which McCain voted. It is not to justify earmarks, but to show the hypocrisy in McCain's holier-than-thou rhetoric.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/a-thought-from-the-1st-de_b_132101....
Consider what's happening on Wall Street--and why we even care about it. The worry is that banks will stop lending money, slowing down an economy that already seems to be in recession. The solution, many economists agree, is to put more money into circulation. Since the Federal Reserve can't do that by reducing interest rates as it has in the recent past--rates are already very low--the government must inject money directly, by giving out more than it takes in. Tax rebates for the poor and middle class, who will likely spend the money quickly, are one way to do that; public assistance programs like unemployment insurance and Medicaid are another.

But it's not the quick economic stimulus that worries most observers. It's the initiatives that represent longer-term claims on the federal treasury. The college tuition assistance Obama has proposed wouldn't disappear after one or two years, when the economic downturn (hopefully) ends. Neither would the investment in early-childhood programs.

Obama would have the government grab some new revenue, too, thanks in part to a cap-and-trade scheme that would effectively tax pollution. If you grant the campaign some favorable assumptions, then, taken as a whole, his agenda might not change the government's year-to-year bottom line that much; in fact, annual deficits could even start to come down a little...But does that make Obama's spending plans unwise? Not really. That's because the culprit behind the rising cost of Medicare and Medicaid is the overall price of medical care, which the federal government currently has limited power to control. Ultimately, the only hope lies in a comprehensive reform of health care--one that reduces expensive over-treatment while creating a unified system in which it's possible for the government to exert more pricing power. And, while a reform like Obama's might not accomplish that right away, it would take the essential first steps.

Another way to prepare for future financial obligations is to help the economy grow faster, which would increase tax revenue and make the government's debt seem smaller by comparison. But, over the last decade, we've spent too little on educating our workforce and developing infrastructure essential to growth. We've also been too slow to focus on energy independence. It's imperative to make up for that neglect now, particularly given what's happened on Wall Street.
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=8c40a373-af0a-4efe-af99-6ac7835b9da...

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[flyboymd82]

What a freaking lying piece of shit! Look what Obama has done in just 3 months!

Over 9000 earmarks in ONE bill!

Obama said during the campaign "I will BAN ALL EARMARKS"!

Now he says "Earmarks done right can be a good thing".

Does Mrs lickalottapus Madcow have anything to say about that??

MSNBC is a FARCE!! How can you have any respect for a so called "news agency" when its so obvious they are Obama's bitches?

BTW, Bo's approval rating is 22 points lower than Bush's was at this time.

[TruthTuber]

There is a very good article in Rolling Stone about John McCain. It's the most thorough article I've ever seen on the candidate. Just go to the Rolling Stone website. If you think it's informative, spread the word.

[falcondriver100]

@whatswrongwiddya LMAO! And in this video Obama says to McCain "you acting like you're going to control spending is kinda hard to swallow"..........OH MY GOD! The lies & hypocrisy of the left is simple astounding!

[whatswrongwiddya]

@flyboymd82 now his approval rating is below 38%..I bet MSNBC aint reporting that bit of news

[whatswrongwiddya]

If Rachel Maddow had one ounce of self respect and was actually trying to do her job she would feel like a complete ass. But Im sure she would turn and twist this video and stand beside Obama. I really cant understand how PPL can be this fucking stupid...GOD HELP US ALL !!!

[sexykatie90]

thumbs up if you like Obama slams Mccain: Corporate Tax Cuts & The Earmark Fallacy - Rachel Maddow comments

[larryg313]

this is the exact reason why nobody watches MSLSD anymore, this IS the LEFT WING media machine.

[larryg313]

this is the most bias and garbage reporting I ever saw

[tanner5390]

what makes me laugh so much about these news stations is that they let obama go on for like a minute then they limit mccains cut to 5 seconds. hmm. no room for argument.

[LoryLandskipper]

which one will yield positive returns?

[dagmastr12]

Orgy of spending, what the heck is going on now? those tax breaks for the rich was a good idea now and than, they are paying over 30% now and in some cases more some less but saying your going to increase taxes on people really is not something that motivates the small business person

[sk8tergurl360]

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