McCain tax positon takes on some nuance

My, how times change.  When people float the idea of a Mitt Romney vice presidency, my first thought is "how are we going to hit Obama for changing his position out of political expediency with Mitt Romney on the ticket?"  Well, we might as well put him there now, since McCain's already invalidating that attack point for us.  Here he is in March 2007:

Ponnuru: If you could get the Democrats to agree, or at least to come to the table on entitlements or on tax simplification, are those circumstances under which you’d be willing to accept a tax increase?

Sen. McCain: No; no.

And here he is yesterday on This Week with George Stephanopoulos:

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, that means payroll tax increases are on the table, as well?

MCCAIN: There is nothing that's off the table. I have my positions, and I'll articulate them. But nothing's off the table.

I don't want tax increases. Of course I'd like to have young Americans have some of their money put into an account with their name on it. But that doesn't mean that anything is off the table...

It's amazing how "straight talk" got a little more fuzzy after Maverick won the nomination.  I think this is, along with his attack on the free market, the clearest sign yet that he is more interested in wooing moderates than conservatives.  VP Charlie Crist, here we come!

(The only thing I like about this is that Ramesh Ponnuru, one of the earliest and loudest McCain supporters at National Review was the one who wrote the post noting this flip-flop at The Corner.  I hope he appreciates what he helped to make possible.)

***Thanks for the link, Ace!  Everyone make sure to check out the rest of the good stuff we've got here at doubleplusundead!

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 01:37 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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