McCain Vows No New Taxes “Under Any Circumstances”
WAPO:
Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the likely Republican nominee for president who is seeking to shore up support among conservatives, said today that he would not raise taxes under any circumstances.
“In fact, I could see an argument if our economy continues to deteriorate, for lower interest rates, lower tax rates and certainly decreasing corporate tax rates, which are the second-highest in the world,” McCain said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Even though McCain has neared locking up the GOP nomination, he still faces wariness among many fiscal conservatives because he voted twice against President Bush’s tax cut proposals. Democrats have been using the tax issue, too, to take aim at McCain’s reputation as a straight-talker, noting that he originally opposed the tax cuts, but later supported them, and now wants to make them permanent.
“I admired Senator McCain when he stood up and said that it offended his conscience to support the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in a time of war,” Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said last week. “But somewhere along the road to the Republican nomination, the Straight Talk Express lost its wheels, because now he’s all for those same tax cuts.”
McCain replied that he has wanted the tax cuts to be made permanent “for a long time” but that he has also long argued that Congress needs to restrain spending.
“Spending restraint is why our base is not energized. Spending restraint is why we are having to borrow money from China, and we’ve got to have spending restraints,” McCain said. “But to impose on the American people what essentially would be a tax increase of thousands of dollars per family in America is not something I think — well, I’m sure would be bad for the economy of this country.”
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Let’s hope so.
February 17th, 2008 at 4:55 pmHe isn’t even president yet, let alone the nominee quite yet!
February 17th, 2008 at 5:27 pmI want to believe him, if he gets the nomination I hope he’ll keep his word on the promises he’s making.
February 17th, 2008 at 7:28 pmBut will he uphold the law of his own congessional body when it comes to illegal aliens?
February 17th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
How ’bout a tax break?
February 17th, 2008 at 8:53 pmThe Feds get to much of our money now as it is and squanders a large % of it.
Stop sending our $ to foreign countries. Invest in America first. Lots of things to do here. They are almost countless and to numerous to list.
I;d like to see pork barrel spending be done away with, he already does that in his state, he got 0 dollars last year, i think he means what he says about restraint in spending.
February 17th, 2008 at 9:13 pmI never heard that before from a Moderate Republican candidate. The only quote missing is the “Read my lips” This only confirms for me his straight talk slogan, is just that a slogan. I still haven’t made up my mind if I will hold my nose and vote for him or if I cast a protest vote and do a write in. I know its just throwing away my vote but what else is there?
February 18th, 2008 at 1:01 am