Most of these emails are so blatantly false that only an idiot would believe them. Those who believe the Obama is a secret Muslim/Antichrist/terrorist lies do so because they choose to believe them. That is what they want to believe, and no amount of evidence will change their mind. A bigot is a bigot is a bigot.
There is one email that deals with taxes that is somewhat believable to the uninformed. John McCain and his surrogates repeat the lie over and over that Obama will increase taxes on the middle class. Even Fox News called out Tucker Bounds, McCain spokesperson, on this blatant falsehood. This only a couple of days after Karl Rove said that McCain had gone too far in stretching the truth. Have I stepped in to an alternate universe?
From the HuffPo:
KELLY: I want to hold you accountable for what McCain is doing, and get you to weigh in on this. Has your candidate gone too far, has he stretched the truth with the voters?
BOUNDS: Well, Megyn, what we have done is gone to great lengths to discuss Barack Obama's record. And I think what you're seeing in this ad today is that he would rather hurl insults than examine his record. I mean, it is true that during a struggling economy, he proposes raising taxes.
KELLY: Not on the middle class.
BOUNDS: Well...ulp...on job growth and small businesses that drive the job growth of this country.
KELLY: But you guys have suggested he's going to raise taxes on the middle class and virtually every independent analyst who took a look at that claim said that's not true. He'll raise it on people making $200,000 or $250,000, but not the middle class.
BOUNDS: Well, Megyn, you're giving him an enormous amount of credit for a guy who has voted only to raise taxes in the United States Senate. For now...for him to make a new claim...for him...now, keep in mind --
KELLY: No, no! Let's stay on point, I'm not giving him any credit. I'm saying what the independent analysts say. They say that claim is false. And if that's false, why would John McCain do that, Tucker? Why wouldn't he just level with the voters and say, look, he's going to raise taxes on the wealthy or whatever you consider somebody to be making over $250,000, it's going to have a trickle down effect. That may not be good for the middle class. But why say he's going to raise taxes on the middle class when he's not?
The Obama tax email is reprinted in full and debunked point by point on the Snopes website. After reading I now know where one of our readers got the false information that Obama was going to raise the capital gains tax to 40%.
Read the Snopes post here.
Here is a sample: (email in italics)
Capital Gains Tax
McCain: 0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
Obama: 28% on profit from ALL home sales
The statement that Senator Obama proposes instituting a 28% tax "on profit from ALL home sales" is false. Both candidates' proposals would leave intact an existing capital gains exemption for the first $500,000 per household of profit from the sale of a primary residence. Homeowners who realize a profit higher than the current exemption amount from the sale of their primary residence might pay more capital gains tax under an Obama presidency than they would now, but those instances currently constitute a very small minority of all home sales. (For the purposes of this article, the term "per household" refers to married households who file taxes jointly.)
The mention of 's imposing a 28% capital gains tax as president is also misleading. Senator Obama has indicated he would likely raise the capital gains tax rate, but has not specified by how much - the 28% figure is a previous (i.e., pre-Bush) capital gains tax rate which Obama stated he certainly would not exceed while noting that his capital gains tax would be "significantly lower".
The Tax Plan fact sheet posted on Obama's web site says that he will "create a new top capital gains rate of 20%"
You might want to check out this tool as a way to combat voter misconceptions (and media mis-representations). The user enters his/her tax info (filing status,# dependents, income) and a prediction as to what will happen to his/her taxes. The app then tells him/her the truth.
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