Fox's Shepard Smith affirmed Palin's misleading claim that Obama "voted 94 times for higher taxes"
SUMMARY: After airing video of Gov. Sarah Palin's misleading assertion that Sen. Barack Obama "voted 94 times for higher taxes," Fox News' Shepard Smith affirmed Palin's claim, saying, "Well, they'll [Democrats] argue with that, but I guess down to its core, that's true." However, Smith offered no support for his purported confirmation of Palin's assertion, and FactCheck.org has described the claim as "inflated" and "padded."
On the October 27 edition of Fox's Studio B with Shepard Smith, host Shepard Smith uncritically aired video of Gov. Sarah Palin's statement that "[Sen. Barack Obama's] commitment to higher taxes never changes, though. And you just have to look at his record. He voted 94 times for higher taxes." Smith then said, "Well, they'll [Democrats] argue with that, but I guess down to its core, that's true." Smith offered no support for his purported confirmation of Palin's assertion, a claim described by FactCheck.org as "inflated" and "padded"; indeed, the 94 votes Palin cited included votes that did not raise taxes, some that had no effect on tax rates, and some that lowered taxes on many people while raising them on comparatively few others.
Reviewing each of Obama's 94 votes, FactCheck.org found:
- Twenty-three were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all; they were against proposed tax cuts.
- Seven of the votes were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, while raising them on a relative few, either corporations or affluent individuals.
- Eleven votes the GOP is counting would have increased taxes on those making more than $1 million a year -- in order to fund programs such as Head Start and school nutrition programs, or veterans' health care.
- The GOP sometimes counted two, three and even four votes on the same measure. We found their tally included a total of 17 votes on seven measures, effectively padding their total by 10.
- The majority of the 94 votes -- 53 of them, including some mentioned above -- were on budget measures, not tax bills, and would not have resulted in any tax change. Four other votes were non-binding motions related to conference report negotiations.
The Obama campaign has responded that by using McCain's own methodology, McCain has voted in favor of higher taxes 477 times. Investigating the claim, made by Obama's economic policy director Jason Furman on September 3 on CNBC's Your Money, Your Vote, PolitiFact.com reported:
We didn't track down all 477 votes the Democrats claimed, but we looked at a few and found that McCain, indeed, could be depicted as having voted to raise multiple taxes, just as Obama did, if one reads the fine print. For example, in May 2006, McCain voted for a massive fiscal 2006 tax and spending bill that, among other things, increased excise taxes on public charities and expanded the base of the tax on private foundation investment income. These revenue-raisers helped offset $70-billion in tax cuts, including reduced rates on capital gains and dividends and writeoffs for small businesses, according to a summary prepared by the Joint Committee on Taxation. In 1997, McCain voted for a $100.4-billion, five-year tax cut package that, among other things, raised cigarette taxes 10 cents per pack in 2000 and 15 cents per pack in 2002.
From the October 27 edition of Fox News' Studio B with Shepard Smith:
SMITH: And Sarah Palin spoke on taxes. Listen.
PALIN [video clip]: Senator Obama has an ideological commitment to higher taxes, and though it seems that he adjusts his tax plan pronouncements almost daily now, kind of flip-flopping on what all the details are, his commitment to higher taxes never changes, though. And you just have to look at his record. He voted 94 times for higher taxes.
SMITH: Well, they'll argue with that, but I guess, down to its core, that's true.
CARL CAMERON (Fox News chief political correspondent): They'll argue with it extensively.
MAJOR GARRETT (Fox News congressional correspondent): Exactly.
CAMERON: The Obama campaign and Democrats think that there's all kinds of things that Sarah Palin and John McCain have been saying that are distortions or exaggerations, but Senator Obama has said that he does plan on increasing spending. He has said that he will raise taxes on the wealthy insofar as he'll repeal the Bush tax cuts, particularly on the high income bracket, and that he wants to create more opportunity.
He's talked about such things as fairness -- income fairness. When all that sort of thing happens, conservatives' antennae go straight up. They hear all kinds of language that John McCain himself has characterized as, quote, "class warfare." Pretty tough stuff, Shep. If there's a great deal of interpretation and reinterpretation on both sides, on both sides, there are original quotes that feed it, Shep.
SMITH: All right, Carl, Major, thanks.
Conservatives still think they got in taxes, huh? NOPE!
You know, the conservative nation, they're going through a mental recession. you just hear this constant whining and complaining. They've sort of become a nation of whiners.
Whiners? That definition does not even start to describe these losers!
I'm sick and tired of hearing about a tiny little group of millionaires and billionaires bitching and moaning about having to pay a more fair share of the tax burden!
They seem to forget that if not for We the Little Mythical and 'Whining' People are the ones that create that money for them!
Sure, they may have come up with the concept of their business, but not a one of them would be with the wealth they have if not for those hard working 'middle class' people that were willing to work for them!
It is a two way street! They can only become wealthy IF they are able to hire people willing to be paid so little or what have you!
When they (the wealthy) stop sending those precious jobs over seas and would be so kind in keeping them here, it is quite possible the rest of us might not mind it that they are rich, because they are remembering that they, like the rest of us, are all in this together!
I leave with this little tidbit of wisdom for all those that are or know someone that is rich:
"Taxes are the price we pay for civilization, for without civilization you would have no money." Oliver Wendell Holmes
Which means that without us (the poor and middle class), you (the wealthy and elite) would not have money either!
FYI: Once the word gets out and those of us not rich begin to realize that you (the wealthy) need us (the rest of us) way more than we need you! As any amount of wealth can be made in the form of mom and pop shops, corporations are not needed, if we choose to not use them!
Thank you
I was surprised to learn BHO had voted something other than "present" 94 times, based on (mis)information floating around the internet.
Somebody came up with the number, using these same guidelines, for how many times Grampy voted for higher taxes. I can't remember the number, probably because it hasn't been hammered every day by the media, but it was way bigger than 94.
Harlan, the number is given above in the MMFA report. Yes 447 is higher than 94.
Yes Oscar, Obama is a clever politician. I suppose that is better than having dunce. Obama voted present on bills where his vote was not needed in order to avoid political problems later. Grampy dioesn't even show up or participate in any way on many more bills and was simply not present at all. McGramps couldn't even vote present becasue he was gone, absent. missing, from more senate votes than almost anybody.
Yes, Middleleft, the figure is in the item above. I was just seeing if you were paying attention. (OK,Cut me some slack, it was late) ;0)
If Sarah2012 said it, it must be true. She never lies, wink wink.
Tman, they are crying a river. But I told my very Republican friend that McCain still has a chance and that he should get up and get out the vote this weekend. He would but he'd rather watch football.
Simple Sarah is either dumb as a stump, or a pathological liar. Maybe both. If this is the future face of the Republican Party, I hope they find their rightful place in the dustbin of history before she can weasel her way into any kind of national office.
She will be a force to reckon with. The GOP operates on narrow parameters to elevate individuals to positions of major influence and do not allow the rest of the party members to outshine the chosen one. that is why they don;t have many younger politicians to choose from with whon we can have a civil debate on issues. They teach them smear politics and personal attacks as the way to get ahead in an area that was originally set up as an honorable position of representative service.