BrianGarst.com

The Wall Street Journal, covering the tax plans unveiled by Democrats, has done a sadly inadequate job of reporting. The authors made no effort whatsoever to challenge blatant lies. Take this quote from Obama, for instance:

“For decades, we’ve seen a successful strategy to ride antitax sentiment in this country toward tax cuts that favor wealth, not work,” Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said as he unveiled his own “middle-class tax relief plan” yesterday. “We shouldn’t be distorting our tax code to benefit a few powerful special interests — we should be insisting that everyone pays their fair share, and when I’m president, they will.”

Where are the facts to justify Obama’s assertions? What is everyones “fair share”, and how does he conclude that they not currently paying it? This is an obvious allusion to Bush’s tax cuts, but a responsible journalist would retort by pointing out that after the Bush tax cuts, the tax code is more progressive than it was prior to the cuts.

The Democrats candidates are offering typical gimmicky vote buying schemes with this or that token handout to middle class voters, and the intention to turn around and bleed the life out of the economy to pay for their electioneering. Edwards and Obama are pledging to raise the capital gains tax, a sure-fire way to destroy economic growth. And who is it that will be hurt the most by an economic downturn? Not the rich.

Barack Obama Democrats