McCain & Letterman

McCain returned to Letterman and "gave David Letterman his highest viewership in nearly three years." McCain the Politician provided better comedy than Letterman the comedian. Me thinks it is past time for Letterman to retire.

Joe the Plumber ... Does Obama understand GROSS income?

McCain made Joe the Plumber famous. Listening carefully to the video it is clear that Obama either does not understand business income, plans to raise taxes at a lower income threshold than reported previously, or both. Note that Joe states that the business he plans to buy "makes about $250, $270, $280 thousand dollars a year ..." It seems reasonable to assume Joe is reporting GROSS income. If so, Obama's reply to Joe is beyond troubling. Obama appears to not understand the relationship between a GROSS INCOME from a business and a business owner's take home pay. Does Obama intend to tax GROSS INCOME?



Gateway Pundit has an excellent Joe the Plumber round-up.

UPDATE: Hmm ... how many factual errors or irrelevant, but mis leading, details can you identify in this paragraph:

A day after making Joseph Wurzelbacher famous, referencing him in the debate almost two dozen times as someone who would pay higher taxes under Barack Obama, McCain learned the fine print Thursday on the plumber’s not-so-tidy personal story: He owes back taxes. He is not a licensed plumber. And it turns out that Wurzelbacher makes less than $250,000 a year, which means he would receive a tax cut if Obama were elected president.

Guilt by Participation

Ayers Troubling Present

Obama tries hard to dismiss le affair de Ayers as a bit of ancient history that occurred when Obama was a mere lad of 8.  This posturing intentionally deflects attention from the role Ayers has played in Obama's adult life.  As the Post observes:

All told, Ayers and Obama won more than $150 million to ladle out.

McCain, to be sure, has never accused Obama of sharing Ayers' terrorist views.

He's merely questioned the Democrat's judgment in having worked with Ayers - and having launched his political career from the ex-terrorist's living room.

It's a fair point.

Incredibly, an Obama aide suggested that the senator didn't know about Ayers' terror past - which is a little disquieting, if true.

But he had to know what Ayers was up to with his school efforts - because Obama himself was helping him.

Bad judgment?

What an understatement.

Obama owes the citizens of this country an accounting of his activities as a "Community Organizer" in Chicago.

Leading Economists Oppose Obama's Tax Plan

TaxProf reports:

Hundreds of economists (including Nobel Prize winners Gary Becker, James Buchanan, Robert Mundell, Edward Prescott, and Vernon Smith) have signed letters opposing Barack Obama's economic and tax plans (here, here, and here):

We are equally concerned with his proposals to increase tax rates on labor income and investment. His dividend and capital gains tax increases would reduce investment and cut into the savings of millions of Americans. His proposals to increase income and payroll tax rates would discourage the formation and expansion of small businesses and reduce employment and take-home pay, as would his mandates on firms to provide expensive health insurance.

After hearing such economic criticism of his proposals, Barack Obama has apparently suggested to some people that he might postpone his tax increases, perhaps to 2010. But it is a mistake to think that postponing such tax increases would prevent their harmful effect on the economy today. The prospect of such tax rate increases in 2010 is already a drag on the economy. Businesses considering whether to hire workers today and expand their operations have time horizons longer than a year or two, so the prospect of higher taxes starting in 2009 or 2010 reduces hiring and investment in 2008.

What will be the response latency before someone brands this a racial smear?

This list of Economists for McCain is impressive!

Political discourse at its finest

Political discourse at its finest NYC style:

Back to Basics: Tax Cuts & Flat Tax, Too?

The Wall Street Journal is quoting Lindsey Graham:

"It will be a very comprehensive approach to jump-start the economy by allowing capital to be formed easier in America by lowering taxes," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "Now is the time to lower tax rates for investors -- capital-gains tax, dividend tax rates -- to make sure that we can get the economy jump-started."

That's good news. Simplify the message.  Lower taxes = Economic growth created by the people for the people. 

If McCain takes this approach, it will offer a clear contrast from Obama's classic "let's spend our way out of this" government funded approach which relies on funds the U. S. Treasury does not have.  Besides, the kind of infrastructure needed is not more bridges and highways. If the U.S. were to embark on a serious infrastructure project, the emphasis must be on installing a new energy infrastructure.

McCain could further distinguish his message by reviving his call for offering us a voluntary Flat Tax alternative.