Obama campaign seizes on Greenspan's tax comments

[bigtree]

from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1352446820080913?sp=true


U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign on Saturday seized on comments from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who questioned the affordability of broad new tax cuts.

Greenspan told Bloomberg News he was "not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money" when asked if the United States could afford big tax cuts such as those proposed by Republican John McCain.

Noting that McCain has in the past expressed strong admiration for Greenspan, a fellow Republican, the Obama campaign said the former Fed chief's comments were evidence that McCain's economic plan was fiscally reckless.

"John McCain has said his professor and mentor is Alan Greenspan. And that's why Alan's comments yesterday are so very important," Obama economic adviser Laura Tyson told reporters in a conference call.

"He's saying, 'Look, these numbers just don't add up and it's not good for the U.S. economy to finance large tax cuts with borrowed money.'"

During Greenspan's tenure at the Fed, McCain once joked that his role in inspiring confidence in the economy was so vital that if the Fed chief were to die in office he would put dark sunglasses on him and "prop him up" as was done to a deceased character in the 1989 movie "Weekend at Bernie's."

McCain has also suggested he would lean heavily on Greenspan's book, "The Age of Turbulence," for advice on economics should he win the White House . . .


read article: http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1352446820080913?sp=true

[bigtree]

1. conference call with McCaskill and Tyson

Democrats pounced on Greenspan’s comments, in part because McCain professed last year that he was weaker on economics than foreign affairs and was reading Greenspan’s memoir, ‘‘The Age of Turbulence,’’ to educate himself.

‘‘Obviously he needs to go back to that book and study it some more,’’ Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said during a conference call arranged by the campaign of Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

McCaskill said eliminating congressional earmark spending — estimated at $17 billion annually — cannot offset McCain’s proposed tax cuts.

‘‘That’s a huge amount of money, but it’s not even a drop in the bucket to pay for $3.5 trillion in tax cuts,’’ she said. ‘‘So, every time he throws up earmarks and he’s asked how he’s going to pay for it, he knows he’s being disingenuous, he knows he’s not being forthcoming.’’


read: http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080913/NEWS01/80913017