McCain jokes: $5 million a year is a good definition of rich
When asked by Rich Warren last night how he would "define rich," McCain did his very best to avoid the question and instead started rambling about the DNA of bears and Congress' vacation time. Although he said "$5 million" jokingly, it's pretty clear he didn't want to offend the fat cat base of the Republican Party. This is pretty ironic coming from a man that once bashed the Bush tax cuts as disproportionately skewed towards the wealthy. Maverick no more, indeed.
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t Heather)
“Some of the richest people I’ve ever known in my life are the most unhappy. I think that rich is — should be defined by a home, a good job and education and the ability to hand to our children a more prosperous and safer world than the one that we inherited. I don’t want to take any money from the rich. I want everybody to get rich. I don’t believe in class warfare or redistribution of the wealth. But I can tell you for example there are small businessmen and women who are working 16 hours a day, seven days a week that some people would classify as, quote, ‘rich,’ my friends, who want to raise their taxes and raise their payroll taxes. Let’s have — keep taxes low. Let’s give every family in America a $7,000 tax credit for every child they have. Let’s give them a $5,000 refundable tax credit to go out and get the health insurance of their choice. Let’s not have the government take over the health care system in America.
“So I think if you’re just talking about income, how about $5 million. But seriously, I don’t think you can — I don’t think, seriously that — the point is that I’m trying to make here seriously — and I’m sure that comment will be distorted, but the point is — the point is — the point is that we want to keep people’s taxes low and increase revenues. And my friend, it was not taxes that mattered in America in the last several years. It was spending. Spending got completely out of control. We spent money in a way that mortgaged our kids futures. My friends, we spent $3 million of your money to study the DNA of bears in Montana. Now I don’t know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue, but the point is — but the point is it was $3 million of your money. It was your money.
“And you know, we laugh about it, but we cry and we should cry because the Congress is supposed to be careful stewards of your tax dollars. so what did they just do in the middle of an energy crisis when in California we are paying $4 a gallon for gas, went on vacation for five weeks. I guarantee you, two things they never miss, a pay raise and a vacation. And we should stop that and call them back and not raise your taxes. We should not and cannot raise taxes in tough economic times. So it doesn’t matter really what my definition of rich is because I don’t want to raise anybody’s taxes.”
John Amato: I thought McCain was pretty good Saturday night except in some crucial areas which I discussed here. Most of the media said McCain was just magnificent last night. He hit a HR. I guess they forgot about this answer. What the heck was McCain talking about?
Steve Benen has more.
Oddly bare in here.
Does his wife make just under that?
If I'm doing the math right- she make just over $4 million.
"because the Congress is supposed to be careful stewards of your tax dollars"
We should be good stewards of this planet. Honor the planet for a change........
it would be a HR if anyone cared. If this country re-elects a republican after the last 8 years of disaster after disaster, then we deserve what we get.
This is the new gop symbol?
http://www.magbio.ens.fr/program/images/garfield.gif
McCain is an idiot. Whatever mental acuity he may have had is gone. He is hamstrung by fear of saying the wrong thing. His only chance of winning is if the electorate is stupider than he is.
Fortunately for McCain, the repubs understand that running as an idiot works well in America. Dems run on good ideas. Good ideas make dumb people feel dumber.
He's got a good chance at winning.
Here's a new drinking game:
It's called "My Friend(s)"
Every time McCain says those words you have to take a drink.
We would have the emtire counyrt out cold in about 5 minutes.
Fuck! I hate republicans.
Oops.... that would be "entire country"
(too many shots during the game)
I'd be very interested to know what McCain's definition of "poor" is.
I'm not into Republicans at all - or Republican ideology - but let's call a spade a spade: the first line of the above McCain quote is brilliant. And true.
My friends, we spent $3 million of your money to study the DNA of bears in Montana. Now I don’t know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue, but the point is — but the point is it was $3 million of your money. It was your money.
But $10 Billion per month for an elective war based on blatant and verifiable lies, and designed in advance to enrich only the top 1% for the last 5 and a half years,....that was your money too,...my friends.
what a prepared response! he was certainly fed that answer.
stacked audiences help, too!
conservatoire @ 6:
Everytime he says my friends a non-white, non-christian somewhere is killed.
Shut up.
BaScOmBe hearts Lara Logan and Rachel Maddow @ 12:
Also, having the opportunity to hear your opponent being given the questions before hand helps as well.
http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/08/18/mccain-cone-of-silence...
If you get the chance, read the stupidity of the comments. It's mind boggling the steps people will take to rationalize a situation they can't wrap their little minds around.
McCain thinks a 5k tax credit will enable families to get health insurance "of their choice"? How out of touch can he be? My insurance benefits are costing my employer 13k annually. I'll admit I do have a pretty good package that includes a very good prescription co-pay and mediocre dental and vision plans. I don't know of any decent family plans that you can get for anything close to 5k. And that's just a tax credit - he's assuming these people will have enough disposable income to pay and then will get a portion of that back off their taxes? It is more than clear he doesn't know what the average family deals with financially.
I listened to his speech to veterans this morning on CNN and was completely appalled at the 'we both have withdrawal plans, but I plan to win the war first' message, then just about vomited when he started ragging on Congress for "taking a 5 week vacation"! Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he on "vacation" with the rest of them? He even went as far to say they should all get their carcasses back to Washington because this country is in crisis. How long has it been since he cast a vote on anything?
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/01/28/john-mccain-prisoner-of-w...
BaScOmBe hearts Lara Logan and Rachel Maddow @ 12:
Like this?
http://www.users.kih.net/~brentpergram/chelseacharms/models/md_sable.jpg
The question was obviously about money and economics.
To say that being "rich" is about "happiness" is a dodge!
More McCrap....
heathwood @ 17:
Seventeen pages???
You wanna do us a favor and paraphrase that for us? I mean, I know I'm on vacation for the next week, but I don't want to spend the entire time reading an article on McCain.
John McCain said:
“And you know, we laugh about it, but we cry and we should cry because the Congress is supposed to be careful stewards of your tax dollars. so what did they just do in the middle of an energy crisis when in California we are paying $4 a gallon for gas, went on vacation for five weeks. I guarantee you, two things they never miss, a pay raise and a vacation."
Last time I looked, he is a member of Congress. That's what taxpayers pay him to do. Why is it that when it suits his purpose, Congress is they?
And what is a worse use of taxpayer dollars: Congress taking 5 weeks vacation, or 3 senators taking 2 years to run presidential campaigns while being paid by taxpayers to be lawmakers?
All senile people have lucid moments - McCain had one of those.
How did McCain know the questions before they were asked at the Saddleback Civic Forum?
McCain the Mindreader
Everyone believes Obama gets preferential treatment, but watch this video, and you will see that McCain had the questions before he was "interviewed".
Money must be a laughing matter when you've let a woman support you for the majority of your adult life.
I want to vomit everytime that jerk says "my friends". You can tell he's not sincere. Friend. Yeah, right!
He skirted the question, and then made some half assed remark about wanting to make everyone rich.
Of course, no substance on how he would do that, except of course tax breaks, which do NOTHING for you unless you make $20 million. Oh, right...he wants to feed the economic engine to help "small businesses"...you know...like General Motors, Ford, and the big financial companies...you know...the companies that make nothing Americans want to buy, or ship jobs overseas.
ysbaddaden @ 18:
Looks like two bald McCane heads in there! Though, of course, silicone IS smarter than John McCane...
Gretchen @ 16:
Same crapola when the Repu'ublicists peddle the "tuition tax credits" canard. We put our son through private schooling all but two years of his K-12 years. I can assure you that a $2,500 "voucher" wouldn't have done squat. Private school tuitions & fees are running more like 10k - $15k a year where I live. And, had there been any "tax credits," you can rest assured that tuitions would have risen by just about the entire amount of the credit.
I think the Founding Fathers would be APPALLED at the thought of our presidential candidates having to kiss the ass of a Christian Pastor, his congregation, & by extension, the ass of every right-wing Christian in the Nation. I watched Obama completely through, but after McBush started his "my friends" bullshit at about 10 seconds in to his segment, I just couldn't stand to watch anymore. This old fool wants to be President, but he just looks like he's already dead, but he doesn't have the decency or the sense to lay down. I agree with what SWTP said--I'd SURE like to know what McBush's definition of "poor" is.
I'm starting more and more to admire the Huey Long "Share Our Wealth" program, but update it a bit for the historical inflationary pressure:
1. Cap every private fortune at $5 million.
2. Anything over that, divvy it up and hand out checks to everyone else.
3. Force the corporations to pay their fair share (I'm looking at you, ExxonMobil!)
Is that too Marxist, coming as it does from a Republican?
"I want everybody to get rich."
umm, maybe someone should tell him that is not how capitalism works. it requires inequality, and it is dependent on a large percentage of people with little, and a small percentage with a lot. thus, everyone can't get rich.
"I don’t believe in class warfare or redistribution of the wealth"
it is funny, the mega-rich people are the first to claim that there aren't classes in america. he should talk to the people on the bottom that know for a fact that there is a highly stratified class structure. the rich don't want to admit though, but everyone else knows of its existence. The economic policies he proposes (and continues) ARE class warfare, the rich have declared war on the rest of the populace. So, he claims that there isn’t class warfare as he carpet bombs the middle class and the poor.
And i would surmise that mccain's definition of 'wealth redistribution' is a bit different from mine.
"it was not taxes that mattered in America in the last several years. It was spending"
as if you can split the two...
************************************************
let there be no doubt: mccain is a scheming bastard when it comes to the economy. he will not only continue the policies that have kneecapped our economic strength, he applauds them and has learned NOTHING form the complete implosion of friedman/vonhayek supply side plutocracy. he and his staff are field generals in a war against the middle class—for the sole benefit of corporations and the ruling class.
"Let’s give them a $5,000 refundable tax credit to go out and get the health insurance of their choice."
Let's see... I currently have to pay $1500 / year for insurance. My employer pays an additional $7000.
So under McCain's $5000 voucher plan I will pay... hmmm... $2000 more per year for insurance.
No Thanks, Old Dude!
I'll take the universal government coverage. (Just like you have your entire life.)
I don't think he was joking at all. But the audience laughed at the answer, so what's a poor feller to do in that situation but pretend he was being facetious?
Let Citizen A make his five million a year and be terribly unhappy.
Five percent of that is $250,000.
Give that to Citizen B who should be fairly happy.
Five percent of that is $12,500.
Give that to Citizen C and they might be very happy.
Give that to me and I will be ecstatic.
Life can be good, as long as one is not living under a bridge in January, in Michigan.
BobbyG @ 28:
And if you give tax credits the prices will go higher hurting those can least afford it the most. That is just economics.
Peter Danbury @ 33:
Those that make over $5M a year is his base. Bush joked about the same thing.
“I don’t believe in class warfare or redistribution of the wealth.”
Translation: Let them eat cake.
beancounter @ 21:
I think for McCain, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above his pay grade.
shutterbug98 @ 29:
It's part of the (illegal) religious litmus test. The faith-based blowjob of the evangelical dicks.
This should at least put to rest the myth about the religious litmus test.
And, you gotta blow the clergy, AND swallow their Kingdom Cum...
peter the pete @ 9:
I'll never know. I wouldn't have minded the opportunity to find out for myself, thank you very much. Guess I'll have to take yours and McCain's word for it.
Hey, some of the richest people are depressed. Lay off on them! Just ignore the fact he hasn't met too many poor people, who are also quite depressed.
It looked to me like Obama was thinking through his answers like, he had not heard the questions before. Although, I am sure he was briefed on the subjects that would be important to that audience. He also treated it like a conversation with Warren.
McCain, on the other hand, had his answers all ready with his typical campaign rhetoric. Like, he had the questions ahead. Or he was not really in a "cone of silence." He also spent most of his answers directing his talk to the audience and not to Warren.
Hmmmmmmmm.
Obama, obviously, had to give answers to questions designed toward the audience, where his views are different. Many of the questions seemed tailored to McCains positions. A difficult situation that Obama was in, much like dealing with the rest of the world. He must use his intellect to deal with difficult situations and react to other people and their postions. McCains job was easy. Just like "defeating evil" is in his mind.
A thoughtful person could watch that "show" and discover a lot about the candidates. Which one performs well in difficult situations and "under fire." Having pat answers to every issue is what got us in the world mess we are in now. Personally, I want someone who will take a situation, listen, process information, think it through and figure out how to respond or act. Reflexive action is what McCain is all about. We already know him too well.
Why do they keep referring to Saddleback as a debate? It was not a debate.
Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 34:
As some Brit or french Lord once noted, the law, in its majesty, prohibits both the rich and the poor from sleeping under bridges...
So, the average household income is under 50k, but one has to make five million (or 100 times that average) to be considered rich? I guess when one (or their spouse) owns multiple homes and private aircraft five million doesn't seem like that much.
Ron @ 43:
Better labeled the Brokeback Evangelical Blowjob. McSame seemed at ease on his knees...but Obama was even MORE the supplicant, if that's possible...
I am just about OUT of this one...neither of these guys is worth a runny shit, form the perspective of separation of church and state, or the preservation of civil liberties...
I just love the way Obama has the instinct to got directly to the prostates of the Flying Monkey right and, lurp, slurp. just cleans 'em off...If that performance with Warren wasn't an all-out, tongue-and-finger prostate massage for the limp-dicks in Xian-land, I dont know wtf it was?
zugzug @ 3:
"We" (meaning 60+ million bozos) re-elected W in 2004, didn't "we".
Oh, I guess that proves your point. ;-)
McCain could soil himself in a MSM crowded elevator and they would think he hit a home run!
yet with this vast outpouring of man love by the MSM, Davis, the head of the st john campaign has the balls to tell NBC that he thinks that their coverage(NBC) is unfair to st john. Of course NBC will now apologise to st john and the man love fest by the media for st john will continue, while Obama will continue to get the preponderance of negative press. Bow down to the corporate media oligarchs, they have decided. St John McCain will be our next leader-because he is owned by the corporate lobbyists who surround him. Sig Heil McCain, corporate fascist lap dog.
McBush loves the movie Brokeback mountain.
POSguy @ 19:
When he said most of the rich people he knew were unhappy if $5 million a year is unhappy, I would like to be unhappy also
a disgraceful event that got way too much attention thrown it's way. Anyone who works for CNN and claims to be engaged in "the news" oughta be ashamed.
woody, tokin librul @ 47:
I'll bet you think your purple prose is amusing. Not so much. Ugh.
I will say this again ...
He spent most of his time stumping and going over and over his being qualified to be leader because he knew how to win wars (I guess you figure out how to win wars by being caught by the enemy and held captive in a box )
He went on and on about making the right decisions (which he didn't do since he voted for this war of Lies and deceit. ) That somehow makes him more qualified?
Beats the shit out of me what the talking heads are seeing that the rest of can't see. What an absolute load of shit this all is.
woody, tokin librul @ 46:
I think there's no contest--Obama wins when it comes to keeping church and state separate. From yesterday's NY Times article:
[Pastor Rick] Warren asked Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, which of the sitting Supreme Court justices he would not have appointed. Mr. Obama quickly named Justice Clarence Thomas, saying he was not qualified for the top court at the time.
“I don’t think that he was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time for that elevation, setting aside the fact that I profoundly disagree with his interpretations of the Constitution,” Mr. Obama said.
Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, named all the liberal judges on the court and noted that there might be several vacancies soon. “This nomination should be based on the criteria on a proven record of strictly adhering to the Constitution and not legislating from the bench,” he said....
Mr. McCain received the more rousing response from the audience, made up largely of church members here in Orange County, one of the most conservative areas in the country. He told more anecdotes but also filibustered more. One of the few points when Mr. McCain left the audience silent was when he said he favored stem-cell research.
Mr. Obama skirted a question about when life begins, saying that determining such a thing was above his pay grade and sending murmurs throughout the audience. Mr. McCain said simply, “At the moment of conception.”
Asked to define marriage, Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain gave the same answer: that it is the union between a man and a woman.
But Mr. Obama also said he opposed a constitutional amendment defining marriage that narrowly and said he supported same-sex civil unions. “For gay partners to visit each other in the hospital, I don’t think limits my core beliefs about what marriage is,” he said.
Mr. McCain said courts in California were wrong to approve same-sex marriages but also said somewhat vaguely that that “doesn’t mean people can’t enter into legal agreements.” ...
On abortion, Mr. Obama declared: “I am pro-choice, I believe in Roe vs. Wade, not because I’m pro-abortion but because ultimately I don’t think women make these decisions casually.” He also said, “I am in favor on limits on late-term abortion if there is an exception for the woman’s health.”
Mr. McCain said he was “pro-life” and would be a “pro-life president.”
"but the point is — the point is — the point is that we want to keep people’s taxes low and increase revenues."
Aaaagggghhhh! Lower taxes do not increase tax revenues. This is one of the stupidist Republican talking points out there (which really is saying a lot), and they keep getting away with peddling it.
If taxes were at 100%, then of course no one would work and you wouldn't get revenues from that tax. So yes, lowering tax rates in that B.S. fantasyland would indeed increase tax revenues. But claiming this with respect to the actual U.S. economy is on par with claiming there are magic ponies that stabilize interest rates and the current banking crisis happened because the ponies went away on vacation (and only the Republicans know how to bring the ponies back!).
And people like Grandpa and Hillary claim all Obama can do is give a speech. It's disturbing the way this hollow, creepy old man is allowed by the MSM to walk through the rain drops with nothing to offer while no one will challenge McGeezer on his weak, empty responses. And why did the audience laugh at that bullshit answer?
Ron @ 43:
Exactly! Saddleback Mountain was a performance, one that was well-rehearsed by McStain, even though he jumped his cues.
If McStain hit a "HR" it was certainly with a corked bat.
PEACE
timr @ 50:
I think this is part of the big strategy. They're really going to press the "liberal media" meme. Then when the media is honest, they'll be accused of bias and when they kiss up to McCain to avoid the liberal label, they'll be regarded as fair and unbiased. I mean they're using something Andrea Mitchell said to make their accusation of anti-McCain bias. She didn't even make an accusation, but only said what the Obama camp is saying about McCain not being isolated during the first half-hour of the event and they're probably right about it. It's going to get ugly.
Is it safe to say that McCain's message is now a noun + a verb + P.O.W?
LOL so true!!
The crazy Jewish Neocon's BFF, Rick Klein, writes of the Obama/McCain summit:
Should Obama be pleased with the event regardless?
Excuse me? "Regardless" of what, exactly? John McCain committed adultery, left his wife in a wheelchair for a much wealthier woman who launched his political career and continues to fund his private jet, talks with supporters about that "b*tch" Hillary Clinton and joked that then-18-year-old Chelsea Clinton was the "ugly" child of Hillary Clinton and Janet Reno? And it's Barack Obama who needs to worry about "character?" Gee, I wouldn't be surprised if the person hired to do PR for The Note did not, just before that, have the same job for John McCain ...
Mr. Klein does get around to asking, "How did McCain's first marriage end again?" but only in the context of John Edwards. (Plus, two mentions of Barack's vacation photos... now there's an issue.)
Tom Woolf @ 48:
60+ minus the stolen votes and the disenfrachised voters.
Who dares to impugn the honor of St. John the Insane? He has suffered for our sins. Read more. http://www.tagg-lines.com/2008/08/mccain-campaign-in-nutshell.html
harley @ 35:
Yes. That was my point. Such schools are private, i.e., they can set their fees at whatever the market will bear. Increase the demand, well, at least in the short term, prices go up, absent government regulation. Duh. Rationing by price.
Oh yeah, the standard "rich and unhappy" crap, like those without anything have true happiness. The wealthy need a full stock of poor workers to keep them wealthy (no, we can't all be wealthy, wow if we all had the same, what would you call that?).
I'm realistically concerned that there will be an uprising someday in this country some day. When the fulcrum shifts and there are too many without basic needs, or when those that have a little now, lose that (like to the high cost of gas). And they will when the wealthy want to take that too. Middle class, you ain't seen nothing yet. Vote McCain if you want to see that.
Oh Lordy, I'm out choppin cotton,
Oh Lordy, pick a bale a day,
Oh Lordy, McCain sez I'm happy,
Oh Lordy His ideas are really gay.
Oh sorry, that was really bad.
McGaffe is a babbling fool. Isn't this guy responsible for inflated spending?
How many billions of dollars have we and are we going to spend in Iraq alone?
McGramps isn't going to stop anyone from laying you off from your job or foreclosing on your home.
He sure can lead. He can lead us to total destruction.
When 72 without a clue said "if I have to go to the gates of hell to get OBL" Why is everybody in Iraq I have never seen not 1 report
of OBL ever being there, As a matter of fact since Torra Borra he has vanished.
I think it is time to replace the CIA with the National Inquirer at least they can find people trying to hide "EDWARDS"
"Some of the richest people I've ever known in my life are the most unhappy."
There he goes again, bagging on the trollop again...
When you lose in November gramps, don't be surprised if she files for divorce, so she can be unhappy with her millions.
TAGG @ 63:
Thanks Tagg, so true.
I, for one, did not think McCain was all that impressive last night.... Obama sat down for a conversation with Rick Waren and, yes, he did kind of bumble his way through a couple of answers, but not as a man who didn't have an idea of what he thought but as a man who was honestly putting thought into what he said. How many of us don't know that it's harder to come up with the right words when we're having a deeply personal conversation?
McCain dodged many of the questions and immediate went to some story of his Vietnam experience...it's like he learned a couple of transition phrases which could get him to steer the conversation to the point when he could say "my friends, when I was shot down...". While I honor McCain's service to the country and admire him for the way he handled himself under that must have been an excruciating experience, I don't believe the answer to every question is "hey remember, I got shot down". Unfortunately, many voters in this country get caught up in this type of heroic nostalgia and will vote for a man who did something great 40 years ago despite what he has shown himself to be in the last couple of years.
some of you people feel mccain did well at the forum. that could be i suppose, when compared in other speaking moments for mccain. personally i felt he was scripted
and melodramatic.....the gates of hell,petraus and i want everybody to get rich.....for me it wasn't that informative.
mccain did reminds us that he will pick conservative judges to fill the expected vacancies.
that little dna study actually helped to save those bears, you as**hole!!
i really, really hate this lying sack of sh*t.
and these people fell for it!!
"spending was out of control"? not the repugnant tax cuts which starved the budget?!
f*ck mccain, that little liar. trying to play the average man. what a dick!
if this guy gets elected, i'm outta here....
constituent @ 71:
The questions were framed around right wing talking points. Need I say more?
fastfeat @ 27:
I'd prefer mine between them.
Don't these surgegasm folk owe General Eric Shinseki and apology?
yeah, and he never answered the question. ever.
IF (and that's a big IF) Rick Warren has any integrity he will call McCain out for not honoring the ground rules of the interviews, mainly that the candidates avoid answering with their stump speeches. The Obama interview seemed thoughtful and honest, as if he were talking to a pastor that he respected and wanted him to respect him. McCain played to the audience and avoided the introspection which you could expect from someone talking to a "man of the cloth."
As much as I don't like Larry King's silly and softball interviews, I may watch this evening.
you know, i'm not sure whether i can't stand mccain, or the people clapping for him in this video.......
they fell for his every lie.
they probably think "oh, he's such a straight talker. such a maverick. he really, really cares about average people, so much so, that he didn't even answer the question..."
Ron @ 73:
i know you were saying this yesterday and your correct......the teary eyed self-confession about his first marriage.......that's a connection for that demographic
to me it was alittle over the top
constituent @ 78:
Unlike his hair.
Y'all remember when Bruce Wayne was referred to as the playboy millionaire? Now it's playboy billionaire.
See what happens when he has a fresh change of his Depends?
bryancri @ 77:
FLIM SPRINGFIELD.
"They must be good, they don't even bother to spell."
Blaming this country's problems on a few million for a bear DNA study? Whatthef*ck?!?!? Sounds like another meme from the GOP talking points memo of the day. I'm sure we'll hear this crap parroted all week by the "strategy clowns" on the political cable talk show circuit! How do these assholes look in the mirror each morning denying Americans the truth behind the FAILED policies of corruption, greed, and utter lack of accountability!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/opinion/12wed4.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&o...
That is the bear DNA study he refers to. He is completely distorting the purpose of the study. If you have to lie to make your point, perhaps you're arguing the wrong side.
the DNA study in question actually helped scientists to remove the grizzly bear from the endangered species list. they determined the health, numbers, etc, via the study.
how is that a waste of taxpayer dollars?
can any reasonable person answer this question?
If anyone has any doubt, watch this.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/17/02247/6361/368/569146
Middle class = $? Million
“Maybe he was joking,” Obama said at the town hall this morning in a library, joking that by McCain’s standards, making $3 million must mean you’re "middle class."
72 without a clue,
They promote him as a WAR Hero ? Don't you have to be in an actual WAR to be a war hero correct me if I'm wrong but,
Vietnam was a civil war between North and South Vietnam the US was there and fighting on the side of the south but never declared War,
US Veterans of the conflict-Police action in Vietnam were not entitled to the same benefits as other Veterans from other wars for a long time,
But it was never declared a war.
Dennis @ 67:
I would love to see McCain personally pursue bin Laden to the gates of hell. Maybe he'll forget what he was there for and enter.
john j @ 86:
$0,999,999.00 Poverty level?
The guy's a f--king clueless wanker!
How McGreedy and McSenseless!
i wonder if mccain will wear those ugly but expensive loafers to the gates of hell
When I was a kid back in the 60s and I would see the news and they would show the Russian leaders on the podium reviewing
the troops and all the weapons pass by it was scary but not because of all the weapons that I saw going by to me that was
very impressive what scared me was that they always would show a video clip of a nuke going off,
And I always thought they give the guy with one foot in the grave control of the button that can kill us all that is what was so scary
for me.
And now "72 without a clue" Wants the job on our side talk about reversal of roles god help us all.
bandit @ 70:
O.K., you have apparently bothered to watch it somehow so you feel pretty good about it. I hope you are right, but how many will only hear how "well McCain did" from the MSM or right-wing blogs? I am not sure if this helped Obama. I like to think that, those who vote strictly by right-wing party lines, would follow McCain to Hell to look for OBL (apparently that is his big plan) and that any open-minded or un-committed person did listen to Obama forthrightly. Otherwise, from the parts I have been able to see, McCain, went strictly for sound-bites. Big deal, a monkey could do that. I don't think that is what Rick Warren was looking for, but I don't think he'll call anyone out on it either. Warren has his own financial/influence empire to watch out for.
One thing that I think will bight Obama in the butt is his comment that his wife is one who influences him. Watch for that in an attack ad. It opens her up to criticism again by his comment.
Progressive Libertarian @ 57:
When he says "people's" taxes - he's talking about his buddies, the corporations.
Raise their tax rates. Lower their tax rates - doesn't matter, as most of them find ways to avoid paying any of the tax most of the time anyway!
With regard to his $5k tax credit to "get the health insurance of their choice."
Okay then - I'll have one "Congressional Member" insurance policy please, for the rest of my life.
He has no clue what anything costs, anywhere, any time. My managerial job, which I had for 20 years was eliminated a few years back, so I've had to pay my own health insurance, as I'm not old enough for medicare. But, apparently, I'm too old to get a decent job with benefits. It now costs me $803 per month - that's $9,600 a year for an HMO policy for one person, very healthy person.
The rate went up recently because I had a birthday - so they gave me a present - raised the rate $150 a month.
"We should not and cannot raise taxes in tough economic times."
Then lets just raise them on the folks that are doing really good right now, the top 10 percent......
Since McSame has admitted that the economy isn't his strong-point, and has mentioned lowering taxes, how can he support funding $10 billion for Iraq a week when he says that he is a maverick and fiscal conservative? Isn't "fiscal conservative" an empty description for a POTUS, after having mounting debts with Reagan, Bush, Sr., and Bush, Jr.? When has there EVER been a GOP president in the White House who is a true fiscal conservative, and never used unnecesarry spending, especially for unnecessary wars? (coughs and crickets chirping?)
One thing about that answer by McCain strikes me as particularly telling and troubling:
Here we have a man who mocks and criticizes the expenditure of 3 million dollars on biological research (with his 'Bear DNA' comment) but fails to mention the billions upon billions upon billions of tax dollars that have seeped into Iraq. Even if you are an avid supporter of the war like Mccain is you should be outraged at the waste of money that is going on there and the miserable job cobntractors are doing with their huge budgets.
So in McCain's world it's okay to mock education and research spending, but its not okay to pour bucketloads of money into a deep, dark, hole.
One thing about that answer by McCain strikes me as particularly telling and troubling:
Here we have a man who mocks and criticizes the expenditure of 3 million dollars on biological research (with his 'Bear DNA' comment) but fails to mention the billions upon billions upon billions of tax dollars that have seeped into Iraq. Even if you are an avid supporter of the war like Mccain is you should be outraged at the waste of money that is going on there and the miserable job cobntractors are doing with their huge budgets.
So in McCain's world it's okay to mock education and research spending, but its okay to pour bucketloads of money into a deep, dark, hole.
Rcm, to answer your question. They are the modern day brown shirts. I truly believe that we live in a time very similar to early 1930's Germany.....
I gotta say it's a lot easier being unhappy when you're making $5,000,000/year than when you're making $50,000 a year. Those therapists, Hawai'ian vacations and red sports cars ain't cheap...
And my friend, it was not taxes that mattered in America in the last several years. It was spending. Spending got completely out of control.
Yeah John, spending is a problem, especially the Iraq war you voted for. And by the way, when 72% of all corporations pay no taxes (ya know, your buddies) it causes deficits too. Not to mention the historically low tax rates your $5M dollar buddies pay personally.
No John, it's the fact that you and your rich friends continually shift the tax burden to middle-class workers while you party it up, spending the money on things that never benefit those you tax.
Some of the richest people I’ve ever known in my life are the most unhappy. I think that rich is — should be defined by a home, a good job and education and the ability to hand to our children a more prosperous and safer world than the one that we inherited.
Given this statement, sure I would like to be rich. Maybe healthcare and a paid college education would make a lot of people like me very happy. I didn't get a free ride to the Naval Academy nor do I get free congressional healthcare you jerkoff.
Progressive Libertarian @ 57:
No such thing as a progressive Libertarian.
McCain has never been publicly vetted about what & how much medications he is taking, sometimes he's referred to as "insane McCain", his mind is in a fog, he will mistake what is true for what is untrue, what is right for what is wrong & come to believe what did not happen actually had happened, the signs are all there, McCain is totally brain dead.
was anyone else shocked to hear him say he'll give a $7,000 tax 'credit' for each child? How the hell do you pay for that? Hey, I'll take it - I'll never have to pay taxes again!
I think I'm starting to see why C&L sees that Bush and McBush are a lot like Mr. Mackey from South Park.
No, McCain. Just no. $400,000 is "rich." I'd like to see how much revenue you could accumulate by not taxing them.
Regardless of how you got the money, whether it be by ditching your old wife to marry a young millionaire, or by kickbacks for kind legislation from crooked businessmen, if you are a rich person it's because God likes you*.
*Unless you're a liberal.
I don’t believe in class warfare or redistribution of the wealth.
I don’t believe in class warfare or redistribution of the wealth.
I don’t believe in class warfare or redistribution of the wealth.
REPEAT AFTER ME EVERYBODY.....IT IS CLASS WARFARE.....
NOT REDISTRIBUTING THE WEALTH IS A VICTORY TO ...... THE RICH
SUPPORT THE COMMON MAN..... REDISTRIBUTE THE WEALTH..... KINGS DONT GET TO ALWAYS STAY KINGS.....
It's also evident in Republican candidate campaign appearances and other public events. It's one thing to maintain order.. it's another to weed out and stifle opposing views. Karl Rove must love office Nazi dress-up day.
Bruce H. @ 100:
If I hear " my friends" by McCain once more, I shoot my TV.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
When is someone going to call-out McCain for being ineligible to run for president.
Politicians are federal employees.
Federal employees are forced to retire at the age of 65.
What makes McCain (72 years old) the exception to the rule?
America, the Land of Hyprocracy!
I would much rather my government spend $3,000 of my tax dollars studying the DNA of a brown bear than spend $3,000 of my tax dollars on killing brown people.
I have a friend who is worth about 4 mil, boy is he going to be pissed at McSame.......
The Bear DNA comment is interesting. I haven't read the NYT article yet, but I see from the comments it had to do with getting the grizzly of the Endangered Species List.
Republicans know the price of everything, but the value of nothing. Penny wise, and pound foolish. He thinks it's more important to cut the taxes of a person making $5 Million a year than to study our natural environment.
My friends, without the environment and the ecological services it provides, there would BE no economy. In the web of life, every species is important to some extent. It reminds me of the comment GHW Bush made about being up to our necks in spotted owls and out of jobs.
Also, it is utterly ridiculous to give taxpayers $7000 per child. We should not be encouraging people to have more children. *I* should get a tax credit of $7000 for NOT having any children! When I look around my neighborhood and community and see pregnant women, or people with large families, I feel so sorry for them. They are so oblivious to the multiple crises we face ahead. One time Bill Maher said that Americans are selfish people with large gluttonous families. I agree. If you want a child, adopt one. When I talked to a pregnant woman recently at a checkout counter, I mindlessly said "congratulations". No longer will I say this. I think I'll say instead "woe to you".
Check out theoildrum.com for good analysis of peak oil and other crises.
All I know is I'm sick of hearing McCain's "my friends".
rcm @ 110:
More like the 20's but them 30's are a comin'.
You know what a $5000 tax credit for healthcare is? A giant windfall profit to the healthcare companies.
Is it going to lower taxes? No.
Is it going to lower the amount of money we pay to healthcare companies? No.
Is it going to make the price of drugs more affordable? No.
Is it going to catch the people who can't afford healthcare, even with a $5000 tax credit (it's still close to $10,000 a year for a family)? No.
Is it going to increase profits for healthcare companies? Yes.
yakfitguy @ 117:
Yeah, I was lucky to get my wheelbarrow full of twenty-dollar bills through that National Socialist-versus-Communist showdown in front of the bakery today. *snark off*
Please use a better analogy, huh? Not saying that you're wrong about where we're headed, but we aren't reliving the Weimar Republic.
Rich? People pretend this is hard.
$200K per household. That's about 5% of the population.
Anyone want to argue that the top 5% is "not rich"?
Puhleeze go right ahead.
I wish someone would ask him just who is going to pay for our little adventure in Iraq, the deficit, the loss of jobs overseas and his tax cuts.
St. McCain: Let's give Americans a $5,000 refundable tax credit so they can purchase their own insurance that will not cover them when they need it most.
Justin @ 105:
Not only was I shocked, I was galled. Why should people without children subsidize people with children? My guess is that is how he'll pay for it. As someone with no kids, and not much interest in kids, I want a $7k credit for something. How about not having kids, as someone else here suggested? Then maybe I wouldn't be so rude to all those jackass parents that think because they are pushing a stroller, they are entitled to the entire sidewalk, too much space in the line at Starbucks, and anyone who contradicts that is a cruel, shallow, angry person. I'll stipulate to being angry, but I'm angry because of the sense of entitlement I see among some parents. If I help you lift your stroller onto the bus, it is because I want to be a nice guy, or at least be perceived as one. I don't have any obligation to raise a damn finger. Hey, if I wanted to experience children up close and personal, I'd have some of my own. Now they get a $7k tax break? Go jump in the lake you friggin' geezer.
Humbug!
“Some of the richest people I’ve ever known in my life are the most unhappy..."
That makes sense coming from a rich guy. "Don't worry that you are barely eking by, instituting F.H.B. even when you don't have company for dinner, and will be wearing a down parka inside your house this winter. You are happier than the rich. You don't want all that money. It would just spoil the wonderful time you are having. Just the other day I was lamenting the fact that I've got all this money, and it is keeping me from being happy."
Shut up you dink, before I give you a slap.
Rich means never having to sleep under a bridge or to jump off of one even though you made decisions that helped put somebody else there.
oo, 50K might be rich.
he slipped in a "my friends" there. he can't stop. anyway, i hate republicans but mccain is unusually sucky. i have to be honest, in 2000 i liked him a little bit, definitely better than bush, but he's so jumped the shark.
MCCAIN IS SOOO OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE AVERAGE AMERICAN ITS JUST PATHETIC TO EVEN LISTEN TO HIS MY FRIENDS SPEECH AND HE REALLY NEEDS TO SEE HIS DOC AND GET SOME MEDS FOR HIS MEMORY PROBLEMS
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