Funny.
Tag: John McCain (Page 7 of 22)
If you currently get health care coverage from your employer, you should know that John McCain plans to tax those benefits.
Currently, the value of your health care benefits is not included as income for income tax purposes. That will change under John McCain’s plan. In exchange, the McCain plan would give Americans tax credits to pay for health benefits. The issue is whether the credits would cover the value of health benefits. McCain has proposed credits of up to $5,000 per year for families, but the average American family would need roughly $12,000 per year to get coverage.
This will probably affect union workers and public employees the most. They typically have more generous health care plans, and thus would likely get hit with higher taxes, even after the credit.
Though Senator John McCain has promised to not raise taxes, his campaign acknowledged Wednesday that the health plan he outlined this week would have the effect of increasing tax payments for some workers, primarily those with high incomes and expensive health plans.
The campaign cannot yet project how many taxpayers might see their taxes go up, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Mr. McCain’s top domestic policy adviser. But Mr. Holtz-Eakin said in an interview that for some, Mr. McCain’s health care tax credits would not be large enough to compensate for his proposal to eliminate the tax breaks afforded to workers with employer-provided health benefits.
Over time, the likely effect here would be to reduce the number of employers who offer health benefits. Also, McCain makes no provision for Americans who have pre-existing conditions. It’s hard to imagine how such a program would work.
Congress and the Bush administration have made very little progress this year on addressing the short-term and long-term energy issues facing the nation. Incentives for wind and solar must be renewed by the end of the year. Otherwise, countless alternative energy projects are in jeopardy, which is one reason we see T. Boone Pickens touting his plan for wind power. Meanwhile, the Republicans gained a campaign issue after John McCain decided to shift his position of off-shore drilling.
A group of moderate Republicans and Democrats have been working together to forge a compromise bill, and we will likely see a vote on the measure in the fall.
High energy prices have become a bitterly contested political issue. Republicans are bashing Democrats for standing in the way of drilling for more oil and gas at home, while Democrats retort that their rivals are misleading the American public by saying that such drilling would significantly lower prices. Yet amid the partisan bomb-throwing over America’s future energy policy, Washington is actually making a rare effort to forge a compromise.
Over the summer a group of five GOP and five Democratic senators, dubbed the Gang of 10, hammered out a comprehensive energy proposal. And now, after taking withering heat from both left and right, the idea is gaining support. Three more senators from each party have officially signed on, and the proposal is expected to come up for a vote in the Senate when Congress returns from the current recess. “We’ve seen the tide gradually turn,” says Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who began the effort with a visit in June to Senate colleague Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). “Thank goodness there are some people willing to work across the aisle.”
The proposal contains some items on the Republican wish list, such as opening areas of the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling and boosting nuclear power. The Democrats get incentives for wind, solar, and other renewables along with energy efficiency measures—and pay for much of the projected $84 billion cost by eliminating tax breaks on the oil and gas industry. “Some environmentalists have serious problems with it, but it’s actually a pretty good deal,” says Joseph J. Romm, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Democratic think tank, and a top Energy Dept. official in the Clinton Administration.
As the compromise gains momentum, it is creating dilemmas for both parties. There are plenty of reasons to be against it. For one, John McCain’s choice for running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, is a strong advocate of opening up new areas like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the oil and gas industry. Polls also show that Republicans are getting a major boost by blaming Democrats for blocking increases in oil and gas supplies, so why would they give up their best campaign issue? “One man knows we must now drill more in America and rescue our family budgets:…McCain,” says one ad for the GOP Presidential candidate, which accuses Democratic rival Barack Obama of standing in the way.
There are citics of the plan on the left and the right. Environmentalists don’t like any drilling, while conservatives worry that the compromise will deprive McCain of his best campaign issue. Rush Limbaugh argued that the compromise would “cut the knees off of Senator McCain.”
From a policy point of view, the compromise makes sense. We can’t let the incentives for wind and solar expire, and we need to promote investment in more alternative energy as soon as possible. I don’t think drilling will have a material impact on our future energy needs, but permitting drilling in exchange for the concessions on alternative energy makes sense to me. The bill also repeals tax breaks for the oil companies.
From a political point of view, this could be a benefit for Obama. He has already announced he supports the basic framework of the proposal, while McCain has not yet signed on. It permits Obama to argue that he can compromise on drilling, while also neutralizing a campaign issue. McCain would be in a tough spot if he opposes the bill, since it would mean he voted against drilling AND alternative fuels.
Either way, a compromise is needed. I hope something passes.
Ariana has some excellent advice for the Obama campaign – ignore Sarah Palin and focus your energies on John McCain and his ties to George W. Bush:
Listening to McCain, you’d think it was the Democrats who occupied the White House the last seven-plus years and it was time to throw the bastards out.
Given that 82 percent of voters believe we are heading in the wrong direction, it’s a logical position to take. But for the American people to buy into the notion that McCain, who has raced to Bush’s side on tax cuts, on offshore drilling — even on torture — is this campaign’s agent of change, it’s going to require an incredible suspension of disbelief. Or a serious case of amnesia.
And this is clearly McCain’s campaign strategy: inducing amnesia about the past and confusion about the future, attempting to hoodwink the American people about what he has become. Which is where Sarah Palin comes in. As a major distraction. In the effort to divert attention from the matter at hand — McCain’s embrace of all things Bush — Palin is the perfect storm.
Americans love the outsider plucked from obscurity. And Palin provides bucketfuls of the new and exciting. As long as voters and the media are caught up in the latest installment of As Sarah Turns or the Alaska version of All My Children, they aren’t paying attention to the lack of solutions McCain is offering to the serious crises that face us.
Forget worrying about the economy or health care or the housing crisis — think about how many people live in Wasilla, whether Bristol and Levi will live happily ever after, and if Sarah and her “First Dude” really want Alaska to secede from the union.
This is why the McCain campaign wants Palin front and center — did you notice how much time McCain spent during the speech praising Palin and how quickly the celebratory post-speech music shifted from “Raisin’ McCain” to “Barracuda”?
And it’s why Democrats need to ignore Palin, and keep the focus on reminding voters about the stark contrast between an Obama and a McCain administration. It’s tempting to prime the Palin attack pump. But Obama and the Democrats do so at their own peril.
John McCain wants to distance himself from Bush, cloud the huge policy differences between him and Obama, and hope his compelling life story carries the day. Obama’s job is to make sure he doesn’t get away with it. Forgetting Sarah Palin is a good place to start.
The Obama campaign has already figured this out. They are attacking McCain and the GOP for ignoring the problems of health care, jobs etc. You don’t hear them mentioning Sarah Palin.
Also, Hillary is going to start campaigning with a stop in Florida on Monday, and her spokesperson has made it clear she will not be attacking Sarah Palin but instead will focus her attacks on John McCain. Furthermore, the Obama camapign has not asked her to go after Palin.
Hillary Rodham Clinton has no intention of becoming a Sarah Palin attack dog — but has no qualms going after John McCain, people close to the former first lady say.
“She’s not the answer when it comes to winning conservative women — she never was — and we’re not going to be anybody’s attack dog against Sarah Palin,” said a Clinton insider. “To be fair to Obama’s people, they haven’t asked us to do that.”
This makes sense. John McCain has embraced the Bush economic policies, and that’s what this election needs to be about for Obama to win.
This is a good move.
Barack Obama did O’Reilly’s show tonight (more of the interview will be shown over the next couple of days), he’ll be on This Week on Sunday morning and then he’ll be on Countdown on Monday night.
This gets him back in the news, but it also provides a stark contrast to the McCain/Palin ticket. John McCain is avoiding the national media and only scheduling interviews with local outlets this weekend. Earlier this week he cancelled an interview with Larry King. You know you’re scared to discuss Sarah Palin when you’re afraid of Larry King.
As for Sarah Palin, it may be a while before we hear her interviewed by anyone. Newsweek’s Howard Fineman reported tonight on MSNBC that after tomorrow the McCain campaign will be sending her back to Alaska at least until the middle of next week so she can spend some time studying briefing books on domestic and forign affairs issues. That’s right, Ms. Governor needs to be spoon-fed what she’s allowed to say before they let her talk to anyone in the media.
This is pathetic, but we should not be surprised. She certainly understands her state issues and she has very clear, extremist views on social policy such as abortion and teaching creationism, but she has never had to formulate, express or defend any positions on foreign policy or national domestic policy.
FOLLOW US!
CATEGORIES
© 2023 NorthCoastBlog.com
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑