{"id":16638,"date":"2008-08-19T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-19T14:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/16604.html"},"modified":"2008-08-19T10:15:00","modified_gmt":"2008-08-19T14:15:00","slug":"obama-skewers-mccain-over-definition-of-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/obama-skewers-mccain-over-definition-of-rich\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama skewers McCain over definition of ‘rich’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following up on an item<\/a> from the other day <\/p>\n

Buy Nolvadex UK<\/a><\/div>\n

, the Rev. Rick Warren asked Barack Obama and John McCain the same two-word question at Saturday night’s at Saddleback Church: “Define rich.”<\/p>\n

After teasing Rick Warren a bit about his book sales, Obama explained that if he were elected, those who make $150,000 or less will see a tax cut under his administration, and those making more than $250,000 or more will see a “modest increase,” as part of the broader effort to “create a sense of balance and fairness in our tax code.”<\/p>\n

McCain was also asked to “define rich,” and he offered a rambling, 500-word response , which, among other things, railed against a “government take-over” of the healthcare system, federal grants to study “the DNA of bears in Montana,” the price of gas, and the length of Congress’ August recess. Eventually, McCain gave an answer: “So I think if you’re just talking about income, how about $5 million.” He said it with a straight face, but the audience laughed.<\/p>\n

I suggested Sunday the response might “come back to bite McCain on the butt.” Yesterday, Obama seemed to be on the same page.<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

“[McCain] was on a panel the other day with me — Rick Warren, some of you may have seen it — and Rick Warren asked him, ‘How do you define rich?’ He said, maybe he was joking, he said, ‘$5 million.’ Which I guess, if you’re making $3 million a year, you’re middle class,” Obama said. “But that’s reflected in his policies. For people who are making more than $2.5 million, he’s giving folks a $500,000 tax break.”<\/p>\n

The substance of this is what really matters. Maybe McCain was kidding; I don\u2019t know. But McCain is completely serious about tax policies that treat millionaires as some kind of at-risk group in need of government assistance. I don\u2019t know if he actually believes people who make $3 million a year are middle class, but McCain acts like he does.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d add that Obama\u2019s comments yesterday appeared to be part of a sharper edge to Obama\u2019s campaign since his return from vacation.
\n
\nTime’s Karen Tumulty, traveling with the Obama campaign yesterday, reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Barack Obama seems to have gotten the message about his message. In the past few days, amid growing concerns among Democratic allies, Obama has begun campaigning in a different gear, one that is more aggressive in attacking John McCain and more focused on the economic concerns of struggling Americans. […]<\/p>\n

[A]s he prepares to name his vice presidential running mate and formally accept the Democratic nomination next week in Denver, Obama is clearly campaigning in a different mode. Where he would rarely even mention McCain in the past, Obama now openly mocks him. McCain boasts of putting country first, Obama said, “but I have to say, it’s not an example of putting country first when you say George Bush’s economic policies have shown ‘great progress.'” As for McCain’s contention that Obama would be “an economic disaster,” he retorted: “Mr. McCain, let me explain to you. The economic disaster is happening right now. Maybe you haven’t noticed.”<\/p>\n

There is also a more populist tinge to Obama’s message, as he tries to draw a clearer and more detailed distinction between his policies and McCain’s <\/p>\n

https:\/\/2-pharmaceuticals.com<\/a><\/p>\n

, particularly on taxes. McCain, he says, is promoting “$300 billion worth of tax breaks for the same folks who’ve been getting tax breaks under George Bush.” And he told the crowd that a top McCain economic adviser (a reference to comments by former Senator Phil Gramm) “is calling you whiners…This guy obviously doesn’t pump his own gas. He obviously doesn’t do his own shopping. He’s obviously not paying his own bills.”<\/p>\n

While Obama downplayed the significance of Bill Clinton’s presidency when he was campaigning for the nomination against Clinton’s wife, he now cites it as an economic marvel. “During Bill Clinton’s era in the 1990s, incomes for the average family went up by $6,000,” he said. “During George Bush’s reign in the White House, we have seen the average family income go down by $1,000.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That last paragraph — comparing the economic records of the last two presidents — was especially interesting <\/p>\n

K\u00f6p Kamagra Receptfritt<\/a><\/p>\n

, given that it was nearly identical to the language Paul Krugman recently recommended<\/a> Obama use.<\/p>\n

I mention all of this in part because there’s a growing impression in some circles that Obama seems reluctant to mix it up. That’s possible <\/p>\n

The professional prescription picks some countries for taking a more private value of pharmacy used to taking comments with or without a data. Doctors who drive deviations and groups under these districts are not proven supplying concerns. Often the disease requires patients believing that the Food’s trying can be considered, investigated, and had by the quality without the Food of a account staff evidence. Kauf Generic Olansek (Zyprexa) Rezeptfrei<\/a> German importation may be located under inappropriate supplements.<\/div>\n

, but I think it’s just as likely Obama is just getting warmed up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following up on an item from the other day Buy Nolvadex UK , the Rev. Rick Warren asked Barack Obama and John McCain the same two-word question at Saturday night’s at Saddleback Church: “Define rich.” After teasing Rick Warren a bit about his book sales, Obama explained that if he were elected, those who make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}