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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Cavuto: McCain's Got the Courage, Not the Conviction

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Neil Cavuto, Managing Editor and Anchor

FOXBusiness

Missed tonight's Cavuto? Catch "The Deal" right here on FOXBusiness.com

John McCain, I figured out today why you're losing.

Your positions are always changing.

You voted for the $700 billion rescue package.

Yet today lumped your opponent with the Bush Administration for essentially pushing the same package.

Here's the deal:

What's the deal with the straight talk express?

He voted for this rescue, but now says Barack Obama and the White House, who voted for the same rescue, apparently voted for something different.

Specifically, McCain wants to target the $700 billion into solving the mortgage crisis, not helping Wall Street banks.

Look, I wasn't for this rescue, but I kind of knew what it was about...shoring up the banks.

If Senator McCain didn't know that, he shouldn't have voted for that...maybe he should have read that.

Because he is smarter than this, and the verbal gymnastics that rival anything John Kerry was ever for before he was against...way, way before this.

Not that Barack Obama's positions are any more encouraging...but they are consistent.

I don't like the left-leaning, spread-the-wealth approach, but it's a consistent approach and the Democratic nominee has never veered from it.

You can accept him and his views or not.

With John McCain I’m not so sure.

But I am sure I'm not the only one confused.

...confused by a man who says he hates government spending, but supports pushing $300 billion to bail out folks behind on their mortgage.

You can't say you're against earmarks when you're earmarking that kind of dough, Senator.

Or adding more than $50 billion to a stimulus plan you cannot pay for...all the while blasting your opponent for coming up with programs he can't pay for.

Frankly, neither of your numbers adds up.

But I’ve come to see a consistent pattern in Obama's.

For the life of me, Senator Straight Talk, I see no such straight thing with yours.

Obama argues big government and spells out why we need it...accept it or reject it.

You rail against big government, yet continue to push cockamamie spending plans that make a mockery of it.

That's why you're losing right now, Senator McCain.

Not because you don't have the courage of your convictions.

But because on economic matters you apparently don't have convictions, period.

Sure, we know some of you are saying the term "marriage penalty" is redundant. In fact, of all the costs associated with getting married (have you seen the cost of a wedding cake lately?), the marriage penalty can be the worst.

Here's how it works: Mr. and Mrs. Right walk down the aisle in wedded bliss and suddenly they¿re a two-income household. If both make roughly the same amount of money, they can be pushed into a higher tax bracket. That's bad, since the higher the bracket, the higher the tax. So, if both were single, they'd end up writing two smaller checks to the tax man that, if combined, would add up to less than the giant check they write in a state of wedded bliss.

Is that fair? We're not touching that, but there is a flip side that few people talk about. The marriage penalty only kicks in if both members of the couple make close to the same amount of money. If there's a big disparity in pay, there's actually a tax advantage. Call it the marriage bonus.

And, it¿s important to remember that there are other financial benefits, such as lower life-insurance rates or health care premiums, that can make up for the extra tax couples pay. So don't let Uncle Sam stop you from saying, "I do."