AP uncritically reported Palin's mischaracterization of Obama's tax plans
SUMMARY: The AP uncritically reported that Gov. Sarah Palin "warned voters about Democratic plans to raise taxes 'on America's hard-working families and our small businesses and a lot of folks just like Joe the Plumber and Ed the Dairyman out there.' " But the AP did not point out Obama has proposed cutting taxes for low- and middle-income taxpayers and raising taxes on only individuals earning more than $200,000 per year and families earning more than $250,000 per year.
In an October 20 article, the Associated Press uncritically reported that Gov. Sarah Palin "warned voters about Democratic plans to raise taxes 'on America's hard-working families and our small businesses and a lot of folks just like Joe the Plumber and Ed the Dairyman out there.' " But the AP did not point out Obama has proposed cutting taxes for low- and middle-income taxpayers and raising taxes on only individuals earning more than $200,000 per year and families earning more than $250,000 per year. Indeed, the Tax Policy Center concluded that compared with Sen. John McCain, "Obama would give larger tax cuts to low- and moderate-income households and pay some of the cost by raising taxes on high-income taxpayers." Even McCain's own chief economic policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, has reportedly said it is inaccurate to say that "Barack Obama raises taxes." Further, as FactCheck.org wrote in response to a prior McCain claim that Obama's plan would increase taxes on small-business owners: "[T]he overwhelming majority of those small-business owners would see no increase, because they earn too little to be affected."
Additionally, in uncritically quoting Palin's assertion that Obama plans to raise taxes on "folks just like Joe the Plumber," the AP did not note that Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher himself previously stated that he would not see a tax increase under Obama's plan. According to an October 16 report by The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, "Court records from a divorce show Mr. Wurzelbacher made $40,000 in 2006." In an October 16 blog post, ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper wrote that according to ABC News' Chris Bury, Wurzelbacher "acknowledged that he wants to purchase the plumbing business for $250-280,000, not that he would net that much in profits. He would make much less, he said." Tapper also noted that "Wurzelbacher this morning told ABC News' Diane Sawyer that he was talking about, in Diane's words, the prospect, the hope that someday he would make $250,000." Further, in an October 17 article, The Wall Street Journal reported that the company Wurzelbacher has expressed interest in purchasing "reported sales this year of $100,000."
Moreover, the AP uncritically quoted Palin saying that "[Sen.] Joe Biden calls higher taxes patriotic." In fact, Biden told ABC's Kate Snow on September 18 that it is "patriotic" for people earning more than $250,000 per year to pay higher taxes. Biden stated: "It's time to be patriotic, Kate. Time to jump in. Time to be part of the deal. Time to help get America out of the rut." Indeed, the AP itself previously reported that "Biden said Thursday that paying more in taxes is the patriotic thing to do for wealthier Americans."
From the October 20 Associated Press article:
Joe the Plumber, meet Ed the Dairyman.
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke to a crowd of about 10,000 supporters Sunday in a Roswell airplane hangar, not only making a reference to Joe the Plumber, but alluding several times to "Ed the Dairyman" after seeing someone in the crowd holding a sign identifying himself that way.
She warned voters about Democratic plans to raise taxes "on America's hard-working families and our small businesses and a lot of folks just like Joe the Plumber and Ed the Dairyman out there."
Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber from Holland, Ohio, became a media sensation last week when Republican presidential candidate John McCain referred to "Joe the Plumber" several times during a debate with Democrat Barack Obama.
Palin challenged the tax plan advocated by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, which she warned would expand government and "destroy jobs" by redistributing wealth.
"Barack Obama calls it spreading the wealth. Joe Biden calls higher taxes patriotic," Palin said. "But Joe the Plumber and Ed the Dairyman, I believe they think it sounds more like socialism.
"Friends, now is no time to experiment with socialism," she told the cheering crowd.
OT but maybe we'll need a tax increase if McSame/Flailin' win to allow her to take her kids around with her and put them up in first class hotels.
Interesting article.
Joe the plumber, ed the dairyman, how 'bout Palin the deadweight?
Haow about Palin the obscure former governor of Alaska and one-time disastrous Republican candidate for Vice-President?
Why no "all of the above' choice?
"Friends, now is no time to experiment with socialism,"
Great idea, Caribou Barbie. Try putting a halt to Alaska's own socialism experiment, oil revenue sharing, and see how well it goes over with your state's "real Americans."
Yah shore, we don't need none of that there "socialism" , like fire departments, police, highway construction, or health care. We just want our cronies to get all the tax payer's money>
she probably will cost him at least 10 points on election day. she costs him in two ways. one, palin herself is clearly unqualified, and that makes people uneasy about voting for a 72 year old. two, her selection makes you question mccain's judgement for making such an important decision seemingly, make that deliberately, spur of the moment. the ramblin gamblin man rolled the dice and lost. esquire magazine proceeded to rip obama and list all his faults and then said you have to vote for him, because basically you cannot figure out who mccain is or what he stands for.
and congratulations to the smartest man in print, paul krugman, for his nobel prize. a guy who precisely called the mortgage meltdown over two years ago. and someone who said, correctly, that most of the rhetoric about speculators raising the price of oil was wrong, although he did recognize that it could cause a temporary but unsustainable spike. he called it mainly supply and demand.
It may be the case that this election was unwinnable by McCain no matter what he did. It's true his Palin gambit failed, but all the other options (Romney, Pawlenty et al) came with their own baggage and downsides. It's like playing Blackjack. The book says to always hit on 16 when the dealer's showing 7 or better. Many people don't do this out of fear. Sure, if you hit you will likely bust. However, pay attention to what the dealer had. If his down card was a ten or face card, you would lose no matter what you did, so hitting was the only chance you have as remote as it is. A lot of people would bust and never hit on 16 again, not thinking about the fact that they were doomed either way.
Obama is the dealer in this contest and he likely couldn't have been beat no matter the strategy that McCain adopted. Palin was a risk but probably was his only shot.
palin was his "only shot"? i can think of a hundred people, baggage or not, who would not have cost him the controversy she has.
I'm not saying that it was a smart gamble. But her intagibles were unknown. It was a Hail Mary. The narrative that has unfolded was not entirely foreseeable. However, if he had picked Romney, for instance, you could kind of predict how the race was going to go.
Palin was McCain's wild card. Unfortunately for him, it didn't work out.
romney would have been a far better choice. but he could have picked many others who would not have been the drag on the ticket she is. he had months to reflect and pick someone. picking someone whose "intangibles were unknown" on the spur of the moment was a bad decision, and it reflects badly on him. there was no need for any "wild card".
There was a need for a "wild card". McCain was losing the excitement war. Just before the Palin pick, I predicted that McCain would definitely lose if he picked Romney. I stick by that prediction. There is no politician out there that comes off as less genuine than Mitt Romney.
The Palin pick came out of left field and shook up the race for a bit with the same inevitable outcome; McCain losing. So no harm, no foul. Plus, think of the comedy that Palin has provided us in the meantime.
obama got the usual post convention bounce that happens after either convention. mccain was not that far behind. picking someone only for their "excitement" factor is a very dangerous strategy. and the proof is that you see a lot of conservative speakers and media figures saying that palin is unqualified. they wouldn't be saying that about a lot of others. it was a huge mistake.
Yes it was a misatake. My point was that McCain was probably going to lose no matter who he picked, so why not take a chance that might pay off. I doubt that if McCain had picked Romney, he'd be in a better position than he is right now.
then we totally disagree. romney, or a lot of other people, would not have dragged down the ticket the way she has. i don't think romney's negatives were all that big, and they were way better than some others like huckabee. mccain could have picked hutchison or snowe and he would have been in a far better position. would he still have lost? probably, but not by that much. will he lose with palin? almost certainly.
Her intangibles were unknown?
Not if McCain had been willing to look under a few rocks in Alaska. Everything was there for him to find, he chose not to look. He just needed a happy face to sell his brand.
Is there anyone out there on either side that doesn't bring at least some baggage to the party? Maybe you could discount BHO because he ain't been around long enough to collect any (at least in WA DC). I would venture to say that everyone has at least one skeleton in the closet that the media would ferret out in little time.
Of course they all do. However, you can work around some issues and some issues you can't. My treatise is that McCain would have lost no matter who he picked because Obama is buzz saw that will not be denied. McCain probably saw this and realized his only hope was to go for the unknown and take a chance. In hindsight, it hasn't worked out but I'm posit that he didn't have much of a choice.
I'm with you. I think this election was deemed a loser from go by the GOP. I think this campaign has been planned to be nothing more than a freak fest aimed at taking chunks out of the Democratic brand.
Conservatives have never been shy about losing the short term fight if it makes them appear that they fought the good fight for the long run.
For anyone that didn't see it yet, KO masterfully packaged up Palin's persistent ineptitude on the position she's applying for.
Uh oh! It looks like she's experiencing a little bit of fashion-induced, party-affiliation confusion.