7 Comments Add your own

• 1. Joe  |  November 1st, 2008 at 7:20 am

  “It was Joe Biden who said (not long ago, when he still was permitted to speak in public)…”
  First of all… it is funny you say this about Joe Biden when Palin has been sheltered since she was introduced as the VP choice.
  Biden has done what? 200 interviews? Palin has done 4.

  As for the just of the article you post, it is just foolish.

  Because he wants to roll back tax rates on the top 5% of Americans back to the Clinton rates while cutting it for the lower 95% of Americans is not “redistribution”… you know it, McCain knows it and David Harsanyi knows it.
  All you people are doing is jumping on one thing that Obama said and not even jumping on it correctly!

  Please read

  So when Wurzelbacher brought up a flat tax, Obama responded by endorsing progressive taxation – the principle of taxing those with higher incomes at a higher percentage than those with lower incomes. And it is in that context that Obama said he wanted to “spread the wealth.”

  Progressive taxes do indeed spread the wealth a bit. But they do so much more modestly than government owning the means of production.

  Few serious policy makers — including McCain — consider progressive taxation socialist. In fact, on the Oct. 26, 2008 edition of NBC’s Meet the Press, McCain stood by a comment he made in 2000 that “there’s nothing wrong with paying somewhat more” in taxes when you “reach a certain level of comfort.”

  So no, Obama’s tax increase on those making more than $250,000 would not represent a transformation of the U.S. system of government. His desire to “spread the wealth” through progressive taxation makes him no less a capitalist than McCain, or Lincoln. Palin’s allegation that Obama wants to “experiment with socialism” seems designed less to inform than to inflame. That’s Pants on Fire wrong.

• 2. Joe  |  November 1st, 2008 at 7:22 am

  By the way KM… I have noticed that while you are posting these things, neither you, Geoff or anyone comes out to defend them.

  Are you just spouting McCain talking points and not really believing them???

• 3. LiberalNitemare  |  November 2nd, 2008 at 11:30 am

  Actually, Obama has a long history of comments and statements that reflect on his desire to redistribute monies.

  Many of these statements haven been available in the past week on news channels and are available on you tube. How is it that you have managed to miss these?

  In passing I’d also like to mention that Obama and several other Obama-spokes people (notably Joe Biden) have recently ‘redefined’ exactly who will be affected by those tax increases. From house holds that make 250, 000 a year down to Homes that make 120,000 a year.

  Who knows how low it will go this week?

• 4. Joe  |  November 3rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm

  Actually, Obama has a long history of comments and statements that reflect on his desire to redistribute monies.

  So apparently you do not like the progressive tax system that has been in the USA since the 1800’s? Perhaps you don’t understand that any progressive tax system is going to “partially” redistribute monies. So apparently McCain is also a socialist!!!!

  Look… the country owes a LOT of money. My kids and everyone’s kids as well as our kid’s kids are going to be paying for this debt for a long time to come. Obama’s plan is a way to give the middle and lower class families a chance to get their heads above water in this environment with a tax cut. Since those are the people that will go out and spend whatever they got, it pumps more money into the economy. More goods are being purchased. That, in turn helps companies grow. This will help the poorer and richer citizens alike. Obama allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire on those above 250k is a way to keep revenues moving along since that debt isn’t shrinking on its own. The upper 5% in this economy are not as hard hit as the other 95%. I am close to being in that 5%, but not there at this point. I would have no problem paying some extra money if it means my kids have the potential for a better future in this country.

  Look…. Trickle down economics doesn’t work. It never has and it never will.

  I explain it this way to my 7 yr old daughter when she asked who I was voting for.

  McCain wants you to pay for my life being better (financially).
  Obama wants me to pay more so your life is better (financially).

  I’ll take that latter of those two EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK.

• 5. Joe  |  November 3rd, 2008 at 2:49 pm

  Many of these statements haven been available in the past week on news channels and are available on you tube. How is it that you have managed to miss these?

  Apparently you just believe whatever it is that McCain & Palin tell you.

  Factcheck.org
  Taking a cue from Obama’s brief exchange with Joe the Plumber, the McCain-Palin campaign has spent much of the last two weeks attacking Obama’s “spread the wealth” comment. The attacks intensified last week after The Drudge Report unearthed a 2001 radio interview in which Obama discusses “The Court and Civil Rights.” Both McCain and Palin have seriously distorted these comments. (You can read an excerpt of what Obama actually said in the sidebar on the left. A rough transcript is available at Fox News.)

  On the stump in Ohio, McCain falsely accused Obama of describing a lack of redistribution as tragic:

  McCain (Oct. 27): He [Obama] said that quote one of the tragedies of the civil rights movement is that it didn’t bring about a redistribution of wealth in our society.

  Not exactly. It’s true that Obama does speak positively of “redistributive change,” but he doesn’t describe its absence as a tragedy. In fact, what Obama actually said was that “one of the tragedies of the civil rights movement was that the civil rights movement became so court-focused.” It is a focus on the courts that Obama says is tragic, not the lack of redistribution of wealth. Had the movement engaged in more traditional politicking and organizing, he said, it might have been able to achieve more on that front.

  Palin stretched the truth even further. According to ABC News, Palin told audiences in Pennsylvania:

  Palin (Oct. 28): Sen. Obama … described the Court’s refusal to take up the issues of redistribution of wealth as a tragedy. … Let me remind Barack Obama of something else. When judges don’t confiscate your property and your hard-earned – all of your hard-earned money and then re-distribute that, he may call that a tragedy. But I call it fairness and adherence to our U.S. Constitution.

  This is wrong on multiple fronts. First, Obama doesn’t say anything at all about judges confiscating either property or money. In fact, Obama says that the Court is “poorly equipped” to carry out any sort of redistribution. Indeed, Palin has Obama’s position exactly backward. Obama told one caller that he was “not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts” because the court system “just wasn’t structured that way.” That’s a far cry from finding it “a tragedy.”

  Dammit man……. Research on your own at some point!

• 6. KMorrison  |  November 10th, 2008 at 11:08 am

  Congratulations Joe…

  G** Da** It Joe Kept Me From Hating Obama Supporters No Matter How Hard I Tried

  Congetulations Joe! You’re the only Obama supporter who who kept challenging me with legitimate arguments. Everytime I wanted to say ‘those d**n Obama supporters keep talking that BS hope and change’ you kept talking logic GD it! I hope you don’t blame me for losing my nut, because it wasn’t intended as an anti-Obama rant. I wish Senator/President Obama the best. I still am a big dorky McCain fan despite his loss, but you also made made a big dorky Joe fan too, and I hope you can forgive me for me stupid rants (I was writing by third party software the last month or two [good excuse?]). Maybe someday we can talk ethanol and free trade; you deserve kudows for being consistently smart and rationale; I strayed and I appologize.

  Thank you for making me think. It ticked me off, but I’m better for it…

  K. Morrison

• 7. Joe  |  November 14th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

  KM,
  Thanks for that.

  I was thinking that for the last few weeks, you had completely given up on McCain since I didn’t see you defending any of the topics.

  I’m not one to think that Obama is going to solve all ills of this nation, but I like his ideas and how he will go about things.

  Now if only some of the far right on Blogs for Victory would read a little bit and actually engage in debate instead of just calling Democrats (and Obama) solcialist pigs!!!

  While your at it, tell Mark and Matt to allow me to post on their site. Maybe we can close this partisan divide with a little bit of actual talk.

  Nice debating you these last few months.

  – Joe

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