CNN's Bash noted that McCain will continue to claim Obama is “going to raise your taxes” -- but not that it isn't true

Written by Tom Allison

Published

CNN's Dana Bash noted that Sen. John McCain “is going to try to hit much more on the idea” that Sen. Barack Obama is “going to raise your taxes,” but not that the claim misrepresents Obama's tax plan. Obama has proposed cutting taxes for low- and middle-income families.

During CNN's October 15 post coverage of the final presidential debate, congressional correspondent Dana Bash stated that “what [Sen.] John McCain started to do yesterday-- obviously, he did it tonight in the debate, and he'll do it tomorrow -- is on that issue of the economy, he is going to try to hit much more on the idea of that [Sen. Barack] Obama is going to spend more ... and he's going to raise your taxes.” Bash did not point out that the charge that Obama will “raise your taxes” -- which McCain has indeed made repeatedly -- misrepresents Obama's tax plan. As Media Matters for America has repeatedly documented, Obama has proposed cutting taxes for low- and middle-income families and raising taxes only on households earning more than $250,000 per year. Indeed, the Tax Policy Center concluded that, compared with McCain, “Obama would give larger tax cuts to low- and moderate-income households and pay some of the cost by raising taxes on high-income taxpayers.” Even McCain's own chief economic policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, has reportedly said it is inaccurate to say that “Barack Obama raises taxes.”

During the September 26 presidential debate, McCain himself noted that Obama would provide “tax cuts,” but returned, moments later, to suggesting Obama would “raise people's taxes”:

McCAIN: Now, Senator Obama didn't mention that, along with his tax cuts, he is also proposing some $800 billion in new spending on new programs.

Now, that's a fundamental difference between myself and Senator Obama. I want to cut spending. I want to keep taxes low. The worst thing we could do in this economic climate is to raise people's taxes.

From CNN's October 15 post coverage of the presidential debate:

ANDERSON COOPER (host): Dana.

BASH: I'll tell you what John McCain started to do yesterday -- obviously, he did it tonight in the debate, and he'll do it tomorrow -- is on that issue of the economy, he is going to try to hit much more on the idea of that Obama is going to spend more, he's going to -- and he's going to raise your taxes; I'm going to lower your taxes. And where he's going to do it, he's -- just like yesterday, tomorrow he's going to go to the fiscally conservative Philadelphia suburbs because he thinks that that's a place that's going to play. But he's also going to continue to sort of reprise the theme from the end of his Republican convention speech, which is, “Fight with me. Fight with me. Fight with me.” That's two-fold: One, it reminds people that he's kind of a patriot, and secondly is to energize that base and to remind people, “Don't give up, because, remember, I've come back from the political dead before.”

COOPER: Well, the race continues, Wolf, for another 19 days.