ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style2 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style3 { height: 69px; } .MsoNormal {} .style4 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style2">McCain the Smoke-Blower</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright October 28, 2008<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style4">O</span>ne week before Election Day, GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) morphed from Straight Talk to Smoke-Blower Express, guaranteeing an audience in Hershey, Penn. victory next Tuesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain told supporters to ignore reality as found in the polls, showing his rival Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) with a commanding 7% lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I m not afraid of the fight. I m ready for it, McCain declared, forgetting he lost, according to objective polls, three consecutive debates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>After pummeling Barack in the final debate at Hofstra University Oct. 16, McCain continued to slide in the polls, in part because he s delivered no coherent message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain nemesis, his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, continues to hammer away about Obama s tax plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Both McCain and Palin insist, despite Barack s middle class tax pledge, he will raise taxes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain and Palin blasted Obama for being a  socialist, daring to cut taxes for the middle class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Our opponent is not being candid with you about his tax plans, said Palin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> It is not mean-spirited, and it is not negative campaign to call out someone on their record, insisting Barack s pledge to cut taxes on 95% of taxpayers is actually a tax hike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Look out for your wallet, said McCain, echoing the disconnect as Palin that Obama actually wants to raise taxes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When the economy boomed in the late  90s under former President Bill Clinton, taxpayers over $250,000 paid 39.6%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama plans to cut federal tax rates 5% for taxpayers under $200,000 from their current 28% to 23%,.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Taxpayers above $250,000 will return to 40%, a 5% increase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Obama s middle class tax cuts should stimulate the economy, generate more revenue from top-tier taxpayers and reduce today s budget deficit.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain s plan to continue across-the-board tax cuts robs the U.S. treasury of $300 billion next year, pushing the deficit to near $1 trillion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama s plan does exactly the opposite, generating $300 billion in new revenues plus stimulating the economy with middle class tax cuts, lifting the economy from deficits to potential surpluses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While Barack has a good plan to fix the economy, McCain and Palin have nothing left other than old GOP talking points about Obama being a  tax-and-spend liberal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain s latest argument urges voters to elect him to keep the presidency away from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>(D-San Francisco) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  It s wonderful to be back in Pennsylvania, said McCain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> It s wonderful to fool the pundits because were going to win the state of Pennsylvania, lagging at least 11% in recent polls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain and Palin s closing argument undermines their campaign, telling voters to vote for them to prevent all independent three branches of government going Democratic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain has conceded that Republicans in the House and Senate stand to lose more seats, handing Democrats wider margins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> What McCain doesn t get is that s no argument to vote for him on Election Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Voters have been driven away from the Republican Party precisely because of President George W. Bush s abysmal approval ratings, dragging down other GOP candidates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Guaranteeing his victory of Nov. 4 sounds so outrageous in light of polls that it makes the ticket look even weaker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Nothing is inevitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I will never give up, said McCain, insisting that he has one more comeback left in the tank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While the polls say otherwise, 2008 is not 2004 and Obama is no Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>McCain and Palin have made much ado about Obama s statements about  redistributing the wealth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>U.S. tax code has always placed bigger income-earners in higher tax brackets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>There s nothing novel about Barack s plan to increase the top bracket to levels during the Clinton years, when balanced budgets and surpluses replaced deficits for the first time in 20 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Sen. Obama is running to be the redistributor-in-chief, said McCain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sen. Obama is running to punish the successful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I m running to make everyone successful, a strained argument when you consider McCain runs on the same tax policy as Bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain said recently he disagreed with Bush s economic policies, especially the president s refusal to rein-in government spending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Yet McCain won t say where he plans to cut the federal budget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He s only says it won t be at the Pentagon.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain s Straight Talk Express has morphed into one of the most prodigious smoke-blowing campaigns in presidential history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Voters need only turn inside-out or upside down much of what McCain and Palin say on the stump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With clock ticking down, voters have become jaded to McCain or Palin s attacks, deteriorated into feeble pleas to keep the presidency out of Pelosi and Reid s hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain s electoral map has turned into an insoluble Rubic s cube, where each solution raises more roadblocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While McCain insists he s poised for an upset Nov. 4, reality says it could be the worst drubbing since Ronald Reagan blew out Jimmy Carter in 1980.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Palin has already anointed herself the heir-apparent for 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If enough the Party s base agrees, it could spell the end of today s Republican Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>After Nov. 4, the GOP will have to take a searching inventory.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;<bAbout the Author</u><b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.&nbsp; He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <i><a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> </i>and <i><a href="books.html"> Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>