McCain (The American) Chooses NM for First TV Ad: What Middle Class Tax Relief?

Repub prez nominee John McCain launched his first TV ad of the general election cycle right here in New Mexico (above). The GOP must be nervous about all the incredible Dem energy being generated in NM by the lively contests in all three Congressional Districts -- and Tom Udall's positives in his race to take Pete Domenici's Senate seat. With strong candidates for Congress AND the Senate, Dems have a really good chance of turning New Mexico Blue, Blue, Blue in November -- especially if the Dem prez candidate can trounce McCain and give the downticket contenders a ride on his or her coat tails.

An American President Americans Have Been Waiting For?
Even though New Mexico's TV market is one of the cheapest in the nation, McCain's melodramatically staged ad doesn't seem to provide much bang for the buck. Everybody knows by now that McCain is a war vet and that he was courageous when captured by the Viet Cong. I also presume that everybody knows McCain is an AMERICAN, a word that crops up repeatedly in the ad. I guess the emphasis is meant to contrast McCain with that Dem candidate with the "foreign sounding" name -- Barack Obama.

Weak and transparent, isn't it? The ad's deep-throated narrator intones, "John McCain: The American president Americans have been waiting for." As opposed to that funny-named mixed breed sorta kinda Muslim guy running on the Dem ticket. You know. Obviously, those old standbys -- jingoism and fear, Republican style -- will be omnipresent in the GOP spin this cycle. What else do they have to run on? The truth about their policies hurts.

Middle Class Tax Relief?
What will McCain actually do for America besides have a narrator insist that "she is worth protecting"?  The ad whips in a line about "middle class tax relief," but offers not a scintilla of info on what that means. It does an abysmal job of explaining how McCain's sloganeering will translate into policies that are good for working families. It asks New Mexicans to look for someone that can “walk the walk,” but McCain clearly isn't walking the walk when it comes to providing tax relief for middle class Americans.

Despite his previous opposition, McCain has been trumpeting the wisdom of Bush's massive cuts for the rich for months now, with nary a word about any help for the middle and working class folks. Suddenly he's worried about the economic fortunes of ordinary Americans? I guess McCain is now ready to say and do almost anything to try and get elected president, even if it doesn't quite fit his carefully crafted rep as a "straight talker."

Here’s what McCain’s tax relief plan actually offers, according to an indepth analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund:

• Provides only 9 percent of its benefits to the bottom 80 percent of taxpayers
• Provides 58 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent
• Would require, if paid for, massive cuts in benefits for middle-class taxpayers

As a presidential candidate McCain not only embraces the Bush tax cuts but also proposes massive additional tax cuts that are even more tilted against the middle class.

According to another careful analysis by the CAP Action Fund, the centerpiece of McCain's economic plan consists of more tax cuts for large corporations, including almost $4 billion in cuts for the top five oil companies. This, despite the fact oil companies have been raking in record profits thanks to the high price of crude oil and the weak dollar.

Just Another Bushie
Although McCain continually wraps himself in the flag -- and exploits his past service to the nation to gain political leverage -- his policies clearly show he's more loyal to multinational corporations and the wealthy elite than he is to the majority of Americans. His economic policies favor the haves, not the have nots who've gotten such a bum deal over the past eight years. His economic proposals aren't designed to serve the traditional American values of offering opportunity and a level playing field to all, no matter how much patriotic verbiage is inserted into his ads.

Like Bush, it's evident that McCain serves the interests of the wealthy elites -- not those of the common man or woman in America. Look beyond the flag waving to the policies he's promoting and you'll see that all McCain is offering is more of the same cynical policies that got us into this economic quagmire to begin with. Just what America and Americans don't need.