Dumb Journalism on Edwards Tax Plan
Edwards has announced an impressive plan to cut taxes on working and middle class families, while restoring a higher rate of taxation for the wealthy to pay for his middle class tax cuts.
AP, however, makes this dumb analysis:
By calling for tax increases for the wealthy, Edwards risks opening himself to criticism that he's a tax-and-spender in the mold of Walter Mondale, the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee who said he would raise taxes. In the election, Mondale suffered a 49-state defeat, losing everything except his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia to President Reagan.
Mondale said specifically he was going to raise taxes on EVERYONE, not cut taxes on the middle class, but that distinction is lost on the AP writer. For the record, Gallup at other polls show that two-thirds of the public think the wealthy and corporations are paying too little in taxes.
Well, they're right that "Edwards risks opening himself to criticism that he's a tax-and-spender", in the sense that Repubs will happily spout that crap and MediaCorp will dutifully repeat it.
July 26, 2007 8:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nathan beat me to the punch on this one; for some reason, the New York Times ran the anonmymous AP story.
Aside from the merits of the issue, and the public ooinion research Nathan cites, there's this simple matter: virtually all Democrats have been proposing a rollback of top-end Bush tax cuts for several years, without suffering any notable political damage. Even in 2004, every Democratic presidential candidate supported what Edwards is proposing or even more, and there's not much evidence that the issue helped Bush significantly.
As for the alleged Mondale analogy, not only did Fritz promise to raise taxes on everybody, as Nathan mentions; he also made deficit reduction the sole argument for a tax increase. In Edwards' case, any "tax increase" is part of a progressive tax overhaul, and is also linked directly to his universal health care plan. These are a lot more compelling rationales than deficit reduction.
Ed Kilgore
www.thedemocraticstrategist.org
July 26, 2007 9:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
apparently Edwards is only restoring the Capital gains rate Back to what Ronald Reagan had it at.
Edwards is more like REagan than I knew!
July 26, 2007 9:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Computer Era Corporate Innovations
From "Innovations of the Paperless Age, Cognitorex Press."
Hire basic labor force at less than full time thereby shedding the cost of health care, pensions and seniority benefits. Transfer savings to executive management.
Transfer previously tax paying internal accounting divisions to Offshore Tax Havens. Transfer savings to executive management.
Underfund pension obligations, then enter bankruptcy to avoid promised worker retirement benefits. Transfer savings to executive management.
Decrease corporation paid tax share of all US taxes from 21% to 7% over last 2/3 decades. Transfer savings to executive management.
Labels: CEO embezzlement, national health plan, what pensions, cognitorex blogspot
July 26, 2007 10:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Dang that liberal media. An least they bring us lots of good hair stories. :-)
Thanks, Nathan. Always a pleasure to read you. May not always agree but, hey, life is hard that way.
Best, Terry
July 27, 2007 2:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Also expect to see stories in the press that read as if Edwards is proposing to raise capital gains tax to 28% on everyone, and not just on people with incomes over $250,000.
And those stories then allow people like Darla Mercado at "Investment News" to get away repeating the misleading reporting:
Now, the press release from the Edwards Campaign says:
... but since many published reports skipped the part about it being the top rate, paid by high-income investors, that then supports derivative reporting that will then be used to try to people in the middle-class ... and indeed, with a $250,000 threshold, the upper middle class ... with money in a 401(k) that their capital gains tax rate is set to rise under the plan.
July 27, 2007 6:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
They'll spout the same crap if he makes the proposition that the sun appears to rise in the East and set in the West. :-)
aMike
July 29, 2007 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
All Democrats should simply say they support the Tax rate hikes signed into law by Bush and the GOP congress years ago (2001 I think).
But then say that the income increases due to higher rates on high income people (say 200K/yr +) from the law signed passed by the GOP Congress and signed by President Bush should be applied to keeping the tax cuts for those under 200K/yr. And use any extra income to address the AMT problem for those same under 200K earners.
In other words, defend the President Bush tax hikes unless they hit the middle class.
July 29, 2007 7:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
as I've already posted, but will repeat:
All Democrats should simply say they support the Tax rate hikes signed into law by Bush and the GOP congress years ago (2001 I think).
But then say that the income increases due to higher rates on high income people (say 200K/yr +) from the law passed by the GOP Congress and signed by President Bush should be applied to keeping the tax cuts for those under 200K/yr. They should then propose that we use any extra income to address the AMT problem for those same under 200K earners.
In other words, defend the President Bush tax hikes unless they hit the middle class.
July 30, 2007 10:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think you are misunderstanding what the Associated Press is. They are basically an entertainment wire-service. I would not expect accurate political coverage from them anymore than I would from Krusty the Clown or a fourth-grade social studies student. If Jon Stewart, on the other hand, made that kind of sloppy and incorrect analysis, then I would be upset.
July 30, 2007 8:12 PM | Reply | Permalink