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Obama Mocks McCain’s Definition of 'Rich'
August 18, 2008 3:15 PM
ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Senator Obama made light of Senator McCain’s definition of “rich” at Saturday’s Saddleback forum in California, suggesting that even though McCain may have been a joking, it still demonstrates McCain’s mindset in forming his tax policy.
“How about $5 million?” McCain joked back to Pastor Warren who asked for his definition of rich, “No, but seriously…I’m sure that comment will be distorted - but the point is that we want to keep people’s taxes low, and increase revenues.”
Today, at an economic event with women in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Obama brought up McCain’s response.
“Maybe he was joking,” Obama said of McCain’s answer yet joked that by McCain’s definition, people making 3 million a year are middle class.
“But that’s reflected in his policies – where for people making more than 2.5 million, he’s giving folks a $500,000 tax break,” said Obama.
The Illinois Senator continued to paint McCain’s proposals on taxes as a continuation of President Bush’s policies.
Obama – in responding to the same question by Pastor Rick Warren on Saturday also made a joke – saying that the definition of “rich” was someone who had book sales of 25 million – a shot at the Pastor’s own bestsellers.
Today’s jab follows heightened rhetoric by the Democratic Senator against his Republican opponent since returning to the campaign trail after a week of vacation in Hawaii.
The McCain campaign responded to Obama's remarks, accusing Obama of distorting McCain's words.
“As was immediately predicted by John McCain after he made the remark, Barack Obama is already distorting his comment about the definition of ‘rich’ in America," McCain Spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a paper statement Monday. "Remember when Barack Obama said he was ‘tired of distortion, name-calling, and sound bite solutions to complicated problems?’ Neither do we."
August 18, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis | Permalink | User Comments (395)
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I left the Republican Party because of the loony Anti-Choice Crowd. I'll come back to the Republican Party if you can answer me this simple question:
If your daughter was raped by her uncle and became pregnant should she be able to have an abortion?
Posted by: JJ | Aug 18, 2008 3:49:30 PM
Paul,
MCain has told that story for 10 years. It is even in one of his books. It bothers us that Obama supporters can d nothing but attack other people.
Posted by: geevill | Aug 18, 2008 3:49:43 PM
Besides, all we know about McCain is that he understands Wikipedia and Solzhenitsyn.
Okay, that's a stretch, regarding Wikipedia. The part of that Georgia article he didn't take word for word, he summarized and actually introduced a historical mistake. But the parts he copied word for word, he got those just right.
Posted by: Paul | Aug 18, 2008 3:50:06 PM
another severe beating taken by Obama. and it was not even a true debate.
Posted by: geevill | Aug 18, 2008 3:51:40 PM
geevill - no, not 10 years but he has told that story for nine years. It came out in the book he wrote for his 2000 campaign.
And its changed over the years. People are going back today and looking at all that. Its been a stick in the dirt, a sandal in the dirt...
But this doesn't change the simple two facts that, 1) the same thing happened in the Gulag Archipelago, and 2) McCain is familiar with that book as he included the act of writing it as one of his twelve tough historical decisions.
Posted by: Paul | Aug 18, 2008 3:53:02 PM
Fellow Obama supporters,
Geevil has been around whining since the HRC primaries and hasn't gotten anything right to date.
He's consumed so much crow, his tail feathers are starting to show.
No worries, there will be an all HE AND OTHER CYNICS can eat come November.
THEY KEEP WHINING, while WE KEEP WINNING.
POTUS OBAMA - ITS INEVITABLE
Posted by: Nat Turner | Aug 18, 2008 3:54:23 PM
And not the first time McCain got caught lying about his experiences there - remember the Steelers thing?
Posted by: Paul | Aug 18, 2008 3:54:54 PM
Kind of makes you wonder what else McCain has been lying about, huh?
Posted by: Paul | Aug 18, 2008 3:56:42 PM
Good luck with these attacks on McCain. Obama's support for post-birth abortions is now out in the open.
Posted by: geevill | Aug 18, 2008 3:58:46 PM
MCCAIN IS RIGHT IT SHOULD COME DOWN TO THE STATES ON ABORTION. LET THE PEOPLE IN THE STATES VOTE ON IT.
Posted by: natale from mass. | Aug 18, 2008 3:59:11 PM
Can someone please do a report on how Obama lied in the forum on faith yesterday when he said that abortions have gone up under President Bush, they have not . USA today did a story on Jan 18 2008 the headline" Overall abortions rates continue to drop the lowest in the last 30 years", and the article going to show statics from non partisan groups that the abortion rate has been going down each year for the last 8 years. I'm sorry I feel passionate about this because Obama always adds facts with fictions to make a point and the media never calls him on it, like his hardest decision was the Iraq war, please how does doing a speech at some anti war rally in his liberal district count as a hard decision when he wasn't even in the senate and by the time he came to the senate 3 years later he was voting for every funding bill for the war the press just lets him get away with these half truths and up right lies.
Posted by: sam | Aug 18, 2008 4:00:59 PM
POTUS OBAMA - ACCEPT THE INEVITABLE
Posted by: Nat Turner | Aug 18, 2008 4:01:40 PM
Yes, let's not give McCain hard questions. He only knows about Torture and being a victim. Nothing about the Economy, Environment, or anything that might pertain to YOU!
Posted by: Shannon | Aug 18, 2008 4:01:52 PM
Can someone please do a report on how Obama lied in the forum on faith yesterday when he said that abortions have gone up under President Bush, they have not . USA today did a story on Jan 18 2008 the headline" Overall abortions rates continue to drop the lowest in the last 30 years", and the article going to show statics from non partisan groups that the abortion rate has been going down each year for the last 8 years. I'm sorry I feel passionate about this because Obama always adds facts with fictions to make a point and the media never calls him on it, like his hardest decision was the Iraq war, please how does doing a speech at some anti war rally in his liberal district count as a hard decision when he wasn't even in the senate and by the time he came to the senate 3 years later he was voting for every funding bill for the war the press just lets him get away with these half truths and up right lies.
Posted by: sam | Aug 18, 2008 4:02:01 PM
Cynics keep WHINING.
Obama keeps WINNING.
Can you say LANDSLIDE???
Your pre-fabricated lemming polls won't be able to help you then.
More crow and Grey Poupon, cynics?
Posted by: Nat Turner | Aug 18, 2008 4:03:44 PM
McCain's philosophy of low taxes is great, if you don't mind handing the bill to my kids and grand kids.
Why would he care? His kids all make more than 5 million per year. Cindy saw to that!
Posted by: DAVID NH | Aug 18, 2008 4:08:45 PM
As commented on MSNBC; Take it from an Arizona resident, when McSame tries to make a funny, which means he’s telling the truth and thinks we are too stupid to see it because he’s laughing. Then he’ll say, no, no I was kidding (you bunch of stupid jerks).
He thinks the middle class is the doormat to wipe his $500 shoes on. He does NOTHING for Arizona. NOTHING. He won’t take pork, so that means we don’t get new bridges or repaired dams. But his friends get subsidized federal money. To McSame, if you’re not rich (5 mill or above) you’re nothing and deserve nothing. Except maybe, taxes, yes if you’re poor or middle class you deserve to pay more taxes.
Posted by: judesuper | Aug 18, 2008 4:09:46 PM
Judging from this article, I guess McCain dodged this questionas well . . . .
How many others didn't he answer?
Posted by: DAVID NH | Aug 18, 2008 4:10:05 PM
Geevil: "Good luck with these attacks on McCain."
Thanks man. Now I see why you Republicans insist on campaigning like this. Its kind of fun, especially when your target is as phony as John McCain.
The best knowledge and experience that Wikipedia and Russian literature has to offer.
Posted by: Paul | Aug 18, 2008 4:12:26 PM
This from a man who's 2 choices of wise he would listen to are Michelle obama and the grandmother who he said was a typical white woman.
Hmm don't that make you feel safe.
Posted by: seah | Aug 18, 2008 4:12:34 PM
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