Media reports Obama's tax plan wrong, again

In recent months, the press has repeatedly reported Obama's tax plan inaccurately, and the problem doesn't seem to be getting better.

From Media Matters:

On July 7, washingtonpost.com's The Trail, CNN, and CBSNews.com each repeated Sen. John McCain's assertion during a Denver town hall meeting earlier that day that -- "If you are one of the 23 million small business owners in America who files as an individual rate payer, Senator [Barack] Obama is going to raise your tax rates" -- without noting that the claim is false. In fact, Obama has proposed rolling back President Bush's tax cuts only on "people who are making 250,000 dollars a year or more"; according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center's table of 2007 tax returns that reported small-business income, 481,000, not 23 million, of those returns are in the top two income tax brackets -- which include all filers with taxable incomes of more than $250,000.

Two things about this story frustrate me - first, that McCain simply lies about what Obama plans to do about taxes, and that the press willfully reports it as fact.

There probably aren't many taxpayers in America who feel that they don't pay enough taxes, or even just the right amount. However, people in the lower tax brackets need tax relief a whole lot more than people who earn more than $250,000 per year, period.

I'd also like to know when the benefits of the rich getting tax breaks is going to kick in. Very early in Bush's first term, before his first round of tax cuts, the American people were told that when people in the higher tax brackets get tax cuts, they would stimulate the economy. We're still waiting, Mr. President (and we will for a looooong time), because thus far it hasn't happened. In fact, the economy is getting worse.

What are John McCain's answers to our faltering economy? Two of them are a gimmick gas tax holiday, along with cutting the corporate tax rate. Both are horrifically stupid ideas. But, to distract from said stupidity, McCain and his adoring media simply lie about Obama's plan.

However, I'm not all that crazy about Obama's plan, either; I think that before anyone gets tax cuts, America really has many things that need to be addressed: mass transit, our soaring debt, homeland security (which is still sorely lacking in many areas), universal health care, etc. But, it's an election year, so tax cuts always have to be a center piece of any candidate's proposals, and I get that. I simply like Obama's plan a whole lot better.