The World Newser is World News' daily blog. Here, you'll find our staff's thoughts on the day's news and the way we build our broadcast. Plus, we'll share reports from our team of correspondents in the field, as well as producers behind-the-scenes.
RECENT POSTS
- Going Rogue, Selling High
- What One Man 200 Miles Above Earth is Thankful For Today
- Clem's Chronicles: Toyota Recall/Afghan Speech/State Dinner Crashers
- Charlie Gibson...On this Thanksgiving
- Quotes of the Day: 'It is my intention to finish the job'
- Start Your Shopping Engines
- The Hajj and Women's Dress
- Clem's Chronicles: Afghanistan/WH State Dinner/Holiday Travel
- Photos: White House State Dinners Through the Years
- Are We Becoming A Nation of Know-Nothings?
- Quotes of the Day: 'President Obama has the information he wants... to make his decision'
- Clem's Chronicles: Jobs/Afghanistan/Health Care Reform/Deficit
WORLD NEWSER CATEGORIES
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
McCain Now Wants Permanent Cap Gains Cut
October 31, 2008 12:35 PM
ABC News' Teddy Davis, Arnab Datta, and Rigel Anderson Report:
John McCain altered his tax plan Friday, saying for the first time that he would like to slash capital gains taxes in half on a permanent basis -- not just for the next two years.
"Look," McCain told CNBC's Larry Kudlow, "I'm at 7.5 percent, I'd like to keep it permanently at 7.5 percent."
Watch it here.
Originally, McCain wanted to maintain the current 15 percent tax rate on long-term capital gains.
Seventeen days ago, as part of his "Pension and Family Security Plan," he proposed reducing the capital gains tax rate to 7.5 percent for the next two years.
McCain is now calling for permanently reducing the capital gains rate to 7.5 percent, according to McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.
The Arizona senator told CNBC that he wants to lower capital gains taxes and keep them low to encourage investment in difficult economic times.
An expert with the non-partisan Tax Policy Center says that "the bulk" of the tax benefits under McCain's proposal would flow to the wealthy.
"Two-thirds of the tax savings from cutting the capital gains rate in half would go to taxpayers with incomes above $1 million," said Roberton Williams of the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. "Ninety percent of the benefits would flow to Americans who make more than $200,000 per year."
The Obama campaign reacted to the change in McCain's tax plan by comparing it to the "fiscal games" of President Bush.
"John McCain's tax shift is just the latest proof that his economic plan represents four more years of George Bush's policies," Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan told ABC News. "George Bush played fiscal games to pretend that tax cuts were temporary, and then turned around to make them more expensive and permanent at the first opportunity."
"John McCain isn't even waiting for the election," he continued. "He is making his tax breaks more expensive with larger giveaways to the wealthy just weeks after first announcing the plan."
Asked on CNBC why he does not discuss investors more often on the campaign trail, McCain said that a lot of the people who come to his rallies are "frankly . . . people that are having trouble staying in their homes, keeping their jobs, etc."
McCain is hoping that the investor class, which he says includes the "Joe the Plumbers" of the world, will support him on Tuesday once they compare his plan to that of his Democratic rival.
"I hope we've connected with the investor class," said McCain. "But I also have to tell you, Larry, the people who want to invest are the Joe the Plumbers of this world who want to own their small business, they want to employ people, and they want to invest in their futures and in the stock market ..."
Barack Obama has called for raising the capital gains rate from 15 to 20 percent on individuals making $200,000 and couples making $250,000.
He also has called for eliminating capital gains taxes on start-ups and small businesses.
The non-partisan Tax Policy Center has not analyzed the revenue effect of either McCain's temporary or permanent cut in the capital gains rate. When McCain unveiled his temporary capital gains tax cut earlier this month, his campaign estimated that it would cost $10 billion.
The current 15 percent capital gains tax rate is paid by single individuals with taxable income of more than $32,550 per year or couples with taxable income of more than $65,100 per year. Individuals and couples below those thresholds pay no tax on their capital gains.
October 31, 2008 in Political Radar | Permalink | Share | User Comments (171)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
GREAT PLAN PRESIDENT McCAIN
Posted by: reddog0216 | Oct 31, 2008 12:36:23 PM
Wow, McCain is so desperate he would pimp Cindy on the street if he thought it would help him get elected haha.
Posted by: JoeShmoe | Oct 31, 2008 12:45:16 PM
For Joe the plumber to enjoy McCain's tax cut, he needs to:
(1) apply for a plumber license.
(2) pay his tax.
It's funny to see McCain keep using Joe and not using the term "middle-class Americans". I guess Joe is easier to manupliate.
Posted by: Licensed Plumber | Oct 31, 2008 12:50:02 PM
WHERE ARE PALINS MEDICAL RECORDS
Posted by: jim | Oct 31, 2008 12:53:02 PM
What Capital Gains now a days not Much Capital gains going on Why cant Mccain ever say MIDDLECLASS! What is he above that word?
Posted by: Angie | Oct 31, 2008 12:53:26 PM
You take a simple random sample of 1000 balls from an urn containing 120,000,000 red and blue balls, and your sample shows 450 red balls and 550 blue balls. Construct a 95% confidence interval for the true proportion of blue balls in the urn.
But what if . . .
• What if 40% of the balls have personally chosen to live in an urn that you legally can’t stick your hand into?
• What if 50% of the balls who live in the legal urn explicitly refuse to let you select them?
• What if the balls inside the urn are constantly interacting and talking and arguing with each other, and can decide to change their color on a whim?
• What if you have to rely on the balls to report their own color, and some unknown number are probably lying to you?
• What if you’ve been hired to count balls by a company who has endorsed blue as their favorite color?
• What if you have outsourced the urn-ball counting to part-time temp balls, most of whom happen to be blue?
• What if the balls inside the urn are listening to you counting out there, and it affects whether they want to be counted, and/or which color they want to be?
(And what, I wonder, if all around you, every day, you are told by all of the coolest, hippest, prettiest balls that your color is mean, irrelevant, unpopular, un-cool, evil, old, incompetent and probably racist?
Would you stick to your guns in the face of that, or keep your mouth shut and show ‘em when the curtain closes?)
Posted by: Please pass on | Oct 31, 2008 12:53:45 PM
That just shows how far right McCain is. George Bush's buddy, indeed!
Posted by: teddymaniac | Oct 31, 2008 12:58:14 PM
Angie ,
I know you will not understand cutting capital gains taxes pushes people to invest in the market.
Posted by: reddog0216 | Oct 31, 2008 12:58:33 PM
McCain's next priority: "I would consider a draft if it could be made fairer than the Vietnam era version."
Posted by: doug | Oct 31, 2008 12:59:40 PM
SO IT DOESN'T BOTHER McCain that the wealthiest American like hedge fund managers, people who make HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, should pay 7%.
Meanwhile, middle class Americans, who support their families with their paycheck WOULD BE PAYING all the government's bills , and be in a 25% tax bracket!
WAKE UP!
WAKE UP!
WAKE UP!
WAKE UP AMERICA!
If the wealthiest Americans pay virtually no taxes then the MIDDLE CLASS has to pay the bill for our soldiers, cancer researchers, Social Security, bridge infrastructure, everything.
McCain and his wife are worth about $500 MILLION DOLLARS. All of his policies are designed to reduce the taxes of the rich.
Coincidence????
Posted by: John McCain's Conscience | Oct 31, 2008 1:00:19 PM
An expert with the non-partisan Tax Policy Center says that "the bulk" of the tax benefits under McCain's proposal would flow to the wealthy.
"Two-thirds of the tax savings from cutting the capital gains rate in half would go to taxpayers with incomes above $1 million," said Roberton Williams of the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. "Ninety percent of the benefits would flow to Americans who make more than $200,000 per year."
------------
Nice move again McCain. YOU ARE SUCH A LOOSER!!
Posted by: becky | Oct 31, 2008 1:00:36 PM
Is McShame not listening to himself? Alot of the people attending his rallies are trying to stay in their homes. They are NOT the Investor group! They are POOR Americans who have listened to a desperate OLD Man & his pathetic sidekick he likes to call a Maverick. It is SO obvious he is trying to protect his CASH COW he calls a WIFE. Wake up America!! VOTE OBAMA/BIDEN!!
Posted by: J W | Oct 31, 2008 1:00:54 PM
Yeah and Obama said that he would tax those over 250,000. but wednesday night he said 200,000 and Biden said 150,000 two days ago. So?
Posted by: Kim | Oct 31, 2008 1:02:09 PM
And just how many "Joe the plumbers" or any middle class have capital gains, any? Doesn't this just help his rich friends? Isn't this the kind of thing Bush would want? Isn't this more proof that McCain is Bush III?
Posted by: BC | Oct 31, 2008 1:02:42 PM
Thats just like McCain, do what you can to help the rich.
McCain and Palin are gotminers - I got mine and the hell with the rest of you.
No way, No how, No Unstable/Unable.... ever.
Posted by: lmg | Oct 31, 2008 1:02:50 PM
John McCain's tax program:
Millionaires: Pay 7% caps gains
You : Pay 15% tax on your paycheck
Wake up!
Wake up!
Wake up!
Wake up America!
Posted by: John McCain's Conscience | Oct 31, 2008 1:03:14 PM
McCain is really gunning for the rich vote.
Posted by: Joseph | Oct 31, 2008 1:04:47 PM
So it's all in eh John?
Promise anyone anything to get their vote is your last tactic I see.
What next?
"I'll get rid of ALL TAXES!"
"I'll buy every child a puppy (even if they are allergic)"
"I'll walk on water across the Atlantic and hike into Pakistan and catch Bin Laden with my bare hands!"
I'd say I feel sorry for him...but I'd be lying. His greed is finally catching up to him.
Posted by: Greg in MN | Oct 31, 2008 1:05:10 PM
McCain: "We can't afford what we are spending now, so I propose we generate even less revenue so we can make it even worse!"
What a dolt
Posted by: jdb | Oct 31, 2008 1:07:24 PM
Why does Mccain never use the Word Middleclass is he above that word?
Posted by: Angie | Oct 31, 2008 1:07:33 PM
Post a comment
