As the Wonk Room points out, the McCain family and the Obama family are both quite rich. In 2006, the McCain's had income of over $6,000,000, putting them in the top .1 percent of earners. The Obama's brought in $990,000, putting them in the top .5 percent. These are not families, in other words, that need a whole lot of extra help. And yet both will get some if their tax plans go through. The big difference is how much. In the Obama plan, the Obamas would have saved about $6,000 off their tax bill in 2006. The McCains would have kept a bit more than $5,000. Notice that the savings get smaller as you travel up the income ladder. Under the McCain plan, by contrast, the Obamas would have saved $49,000. And the McCains? They would have pocketed an extra $373,000! In other words, if you think the primary problem with our tax code is that it should do more to make the top .1 percent of earners even richer, then the McCain plan has got you covered. It's rather remarkable that the candidate who's always talking about sacrifice is trying to give himself a $400,000 tax break during wartime and despite massive deficits, but it's okay because everyone knows McCain is a good guy and lots of fun to talk to. Sigh. It's hard to know how to write these posts sometimes. Is snark really enough? This sort of thing should be a scandal. Yet the media won't care. Catty reporters will not emblazon $373,000 into voters minds In 2000, everyone know the line (or a misrepresentation of the line) "I took the initiative in creating the Internet." In 2004, everyone was aware that Kerry said "I voted for it before I voted against it." Yet there's no way that reporters will stitch "$373,000" into the DNA of this election. But they should. McCain is running for president, during a war, despite a deficit, amidst a likely recession, on a plan that gives him and his incredibly rich family almost $400,000 in tax cuts. It's absurd.
