Franken-Lies-And-the-Lying-Liars-Who-Tell

taxes than in income taxes, so this is kind of important. Especially if you're "at the bottom
end of the economic ladder."
Lie #2 is tricky, because the "average tax relief for families of $1,600" is technically
accurate in the same way that it is accurate to say his 2003 plan would give families an average
tax cut of $1,083. But in the previous sentence, he said, "if you're a family of four making
$35,000," so I'm calling this a "sleight of hand" lie. If you don't want to count it, fine. I respect
that.
Lie #3 is "They now pay $2,000 in taxes to the federal government." Again, he's forgetting
(or, rather, omitting) their payroll tax. Lie #4—"They'll end up paying $150 of
taxes"—comes from the same dishonest non-payroll-tax-acknowledging place in Bush's soul.
You may remember that, during the 2000 campaign, Bush held quite a few of these
Tax Family Events to deflect criticism that his plan was a giant giveaway to the wealthy.
The first few of these events with "working families" (Coulter's "families in which no
one works") were disasters. After each one, the Gore campaign issued a press release showing
how the working family would actually receive a larger cut under Gore's plan.
After a number of embarrassments, the Bush campaign realized it needed to take
greater care in choosing its families. An e-mail sent out by the campaign to New Mexico Republicans
seeking such a family laid out the criteria. A suitable family must make between
$35,000 and $70,000, itemize its taxes, have no children in day care, no children in college,
no one attending night school, no children younger than age one, and no substantial savings
outside of 401(k).
No children in college? No one in night school? No children under one? No savings?
Talk about living the American dream!
These highly selective criteria eliminated 85 percent of all couples in the income
range. The 85 percent would have done better under the Gore tax plan. We can fairly conclude
that a "vast majority" if not "by far a vast majority" of middle-income American families
of four would be paying less taxes today if Gore had been inaugurated.
Rather than offering up an illuminating case of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Average, the Bush
campaign was casting a political freak show in order to present a tiny minority as the norm.