WASHINGTON- On Thursday, Feb. 17, Americans for Tax Reform will begin an educational campaign in South Carolina highlighting Sen. John McCain\’s record on taxes. The campaign consists of telephone calls to 125,000 registered voters in the state. There are rotating scripts for these phone calls. Click here to see the different texts.
"In 1998 and 1999, Senator McCain ranked in the lower third (39th of 55 in 1998, 38th of 54 in 1999) of our annual tax ratings we publish for each session of Congress," said Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform. "Each year, Senator McCain earned a 75 rating. An acceptable rating is 85."
McCain\’s tax plan is bad for America because it would:
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Not eliminate the death tax. McCain\’s plan would tax inheritances over $5 million. This would disproportionately hurt families of farmers, who could easily surpass the $5 million threshold due to the equipment, land, and other high priced materials associated with farming.
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Hurt charitable giving. According to the Congressional Budget Office, McCain\’s plan to limit deductions on appreciated properties would raise $9.1 billion in government revenue over five years. This could hurt charitable giving and could devastate endowment funds for colleges and faith based charities.
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It would increase taxes on consumers by eliminating tax breaks for businesses. For example, McCain\’s plan would prevent businesses from taking a 100 percent deduction for advertising costs. McCain would give an initial 80 percent deduction in the first year and then phase in the remaining 20 percent over four years. The result is increased costs to consumers since businesses will pass along the tax increase to consumers by raising prices.
The text of both ads is available on ATR\’s website, www.atr.org.