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McCain on Taxes: Trying to Have it Both Ways?
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ShareJuly 31, 2008 12:09 PM
ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: Sen. John McCain has spent much of the week trying to explain his exchange on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” where he left the door open to raising taxes as part of a potential deal with Democrats on Social Security.
“There is nothing I would take off the table,” McCain said Sunday.
By mid-week, after the fiscal conservative group Club for Growth expressed outrage that he wouldn’t flatly rule out a tax increase, McCain, R-Ariz., seemed to clean up his answer.
“No,” he said curtly on Tuesday, when asked by a little girl in Nevada whether he’d raise taxes as president.
On Wednesday, he was even more explicit, offering his own twist on George H.W. Bush’s famous “read my lips” formulation.
“I want to look you in the eye: I will not raise your taxes nor support a tax increase. I will not do it,” McCain said at a town-hall meeting in Aurora, Colo., in the midst of an attack on Sen. Barack Obama on taxes, per ABC’s Bret Hovell.
But just hours later, he appeared to open another crack in his no-new-taxes pledge.
“In any negotiation that I might have, when I go in, my position will be that I am opposed to raising taxes. But we have to work together to save Social Security,” McCain said at a fundraiser Wednesday evening in Kansas City.
Pressed repeatedly in an interview with local reporters Wednesday, McCain said several times that he couldn’t rule anything out when it comes to Social Security.
“I’ve been involved in Washington in many negotiations on issues, whether it be immigration or campaign-finance reform or issues before the Commerce Committee. You go in with a position and you negotiate,” McCain said. “My position is that I’m against increased taxes, and my record shows that I have opposed tax increases and been in favor of tax cuts.”
McCain added: “My position going in in negotiations is I’m against tax increases, and I have not been supportive of tax increases, and we will negotiate and you have to negotiate in good faith.”
July 31, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan | Permalink | User Comments (27)
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McFlipFlop will do or say anything to get elected. He has no honor left.
Posted by: chattyway | Jul 31, 2008 7:01:31 PM
christy - that's complete bulls--t. Only those making over $250,000/year will see their taxes go up. How many times do we have to explain this to you illiterate wingnuts?
Posted by: chattyway | Jul 31, 2008 7:02:42 PM
McSame - Bush. GHW Bush that is. "Read my lips."
LOL
Posted by: Mary | Jul 31, 2008 7:03:36 PM
McCain was given the nick name 'DOUBLE-TALK-McCAIN' for a reason by many in his own political party for years.
Posted by: lovinggrandma53 | Jul 31, 2008 7:09:31 PM
How do you know when McSame is flipflopiing?
His lips are moving.
Bwahahahahahahahaha!
Posted by: Billw | Jul 31, 2008 7:11:16 PM
Its already started! McCain-McCain-McCain!! Boy, you guys are so transparent. Your boy O'Bama has not shot up in the ratings like you meant for him to so now you have to start trashing McCain! So transparent and lots and lots of lies!
Posted by: M. Summer | Aug 1, 2008 9:12:37 AM
M. Summer - nice try, fruitloop, but McCain was the one who went negative first. Clearly McCain is the desperate one.
Posted by: chattyway | Aug 1, 2008 9:57:48 AM
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