From Washington Wire:
Playing offense on a favorite Republican attack issue, Barack Obama is offering voters a sneak peek at their share of his proposed tax cuts. Just punch in your income, marital status and a couple of key details, and the “Obama-Biden Tax Calculator” spits out the estimated tax cut that the Democratic ticket is promising you.
Single and making $60,000? The calculator has a $500 check with your name on it. Filing jointly with two kids and $100,000 of family income? $1,000 is on the way, according to the calculator.
The new Web gadget is meant to highlight Obama’s proposed middle class tax cut, which would reduce taxes for 95% of working families, according to the campaign. But punch in an income above $250,000 and the tool says, “You will probably not get a tax cuts under the Obama-Biden plan” –and zero mention of the tax increase planned for the wealthiest taxpayers.
The McCain campaign calls the gadget deceptive for leaving out mention of tax hikes and excluding small business taxes from its calculations. “Barack Obama supports raising taxes during an economic crisis – so the fact that his ‘tax calculator’ is a sham shouldn’t surprise anyone,” said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds. The conservative group Americans for Tax Reform has also criticized the calculator for leaving out small business tax rates and over-promising on credits for college tuition and retirement savings.
But Wall Street Journal/NBC polling suggests that Republicans have been unable to tag Obama with the toxic tax-and-spend label that has damaged Democrats in the past, despite McCain’s attacks on that front.