From the WSJ Opinion Archives

Stephen Moore
Stephen Moore joined The Wall Street Journal as a member of the editorial board and senior economics writer on May 31, 2005. He splits his time between Washington and New York, focusing on economic issues, including budget, tax and monetary policy.

Stephen has been a frequent contributor to the Journal over the years, and is previously known as the founder and former president of the Club for Growth, which raises money for political candidates who favor free-market economic policies. He left that position in 2004. Just prior to coming to the Journal, Stephen was president of a new organization, the Free Enterprise Fund.

Over the years Stephen has served as a senior economist on the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, as a budget expert for the Heritage Foundation and as a senior economics fellow at the Cato Institute, where he published dozens of studies on federal and state tax and budget policy. He was a consultant to the National Economic Commission in l987, and research director for President Reagan's Commission on Privatization.

Stephen is the author of five books, most recently, "Bullish on Bush: How the Ownership Society Is Making America Richer." He graduated from the University of Illinois and holds a masters degree in economics from George Mason University.




By Brooks Jackson | factcheck.org
Aug 9, 2008 | Updated: 12:35 p.m. ET Aug 9, 2008
Recommended (6) FactCheck.org : Obama Ad Misleads on McCain's Education Record
Factcheck.org: FactChecking McCain
Factcheck.org: GOP Convention Spin, Part II
Factcheck.org: A Maverick Misleads
Factcheck.org: GOP Convention Spin
Factcheck.org: A McCain Ad's Faulty Tax Claim
See All Topics (2) Barack Obama
John McCain

Summary
McCain released three new ads with multiple false and misleading claims about Obama's tax proposals.

A TV spot claims Obama once voted for a tax increase "on people making just $42,000 a year." That's true for a single taxpayer, who would have seen a tax increase of $15 for the year – if the measure had been enacted. But the ad shows a woman with two children, and as a single mother, she would not have been affected unless she made more than $62,150. The increase that Obama once supported as part of a Democratic budget bill is not part of his current tax plan anyway.

A Spanish-language radio ad claims the measure Obama supported would have raised taxes on "families" making $42,000, which is simply false. Even a single mother with one child would have been able to make $58,650 without being affected. A family of four with income up to $90,000 would not have been affected.

The TV ad claims in a graphic that Obama would "raise taxes on middle class." In fact, Obama's plan promises cuts for middle-income taxpayers and would increase rates only for persons with family incomes above $250,000 or with individual incomes above $200,000.

The radio ad claims Obama would increase taxes "on the sale of your home." In fact, home-sale profits of up to $500,000 per couple would continue to be exempt from capital gains taxes. Very few sales would see an increase under Obama's proposal to raise the capital gains rate.

A second radio ad, in English, says, "Obama has a history of raising taxes" on middle-class Americans. But that's false. It refers to a vote that did not actually result in a tax increase and could not have done so.

These ads continue what's become a pattern of misrepresentation by the McCain campaign about his opponent's tax proposals.

Analysis
Sen. John McCain's campaign released the 30-second spot Aug. 8. Campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said the ad would be running in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

John McCain 2008 Ad: "Painful"

Announcer: Life in the spotlight must be grand, but for the rest of us times are tough.

Obama voted to raise taxes on people making just $42,000.

He promises more taxes on small business, seniors, your life savings, your family.

Painful taxes, hard choices for your budget. Not ready to lead. That's the real Obama.

McCain: I'm John McCain and I approved this message.

The ad continues McCain's pattern of misrepresenting Sen. Barack Obama's tax proposals as falling on middle-income families. It claims that Obama "promises more taxes on small businesses, seniors, your life savings, your family." But that's untrue for the vast majority of small businesses, seniors and individual taxpayers, who would see their taxes go down under Obama's actual plan. He proposes to increase taxes only for those with more than $250,000 in family income, or $200,000 in individual income.