Obama's Latest Lie: McCain Wants to Tax Health Benefits

The Obama campaign has decided it can no longer use accurate information to fight the McCain campaign. They have to lie and lie big. They are distorting quote and taking things out of context, as in the Spanish language ad featuring Rush Limbaugh, and now in an ad regarding McCain's health plan. CBS (of all people) is calling them out:

(CBS) It's one of the most explosive and important political charges of the election: "He wants to tax your health benefits," Barack Obama said.

Obama's charge was that that John McCain wants to tax the health insurance benefits Americans buy through employers, CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports.

"That's a $3.6 trillion tax potentially increase on middle class families," Obama said. "That will eventually leave tens of millions of you paying higher taxes."

John McCain wants a multi-trillion dollar tax on the middle class? Here are the facts.

Obama has the tax part correct, but the impact on the middle class is exaggerated - most people will see tax cuts.

McCain has proposed to end one of the largest tax breaks in the entire economy. Some 60 million Americans buy health insurance thru employers tax-free, and McCain would indeed begin to tax the value of the benefit.

However McCain also proposes to give the money back as a tax credit, $2,500 for individuals, $5,000 for families.

"Let's give them a $5,000 refundable tax credit to go out and get the health insurance of their choice," McCain said.

"It's mostly a tax break," said Len Burman of the Tax Policy Center.

The non-partisan tax policy center says except for the very richest Americans, most people buying insurance will see a tax cut.

"Families at all income levels would pay lower taxes, at least on average," said Burman. "On average, is about a $1,200 tax cut in 2009."

Obama is free to weave these falsehoods into his ads because he know his supporters won't question any of the details, and most of the media will report his allegations as facts. He thinks he can get away with it.