Do As I Say, Not As I Do

It is amazing how the left will do one thing but say the other, and of course all the time calling the President a Liar.

That condescending mantra ("do as I say, not as I do") would be an apt slogan for John Kerry's tax plan. As the indispensable Club for Growth's Stephen Moore points out in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece today (subscription required), while Kerry has been badmouthing President Bush's growth-oriented tax cuts as a giveaway to the "rich" (as if allowing people to keep what belongs to them is giving them something), Kerry has been doing everything he can to avoid paying his "fair share."


2003 EFFECTIVE TAX RATE

George & Laura Bush: 30.4%

Typical Middle Class Family: 20%

John & Teresa Kerry: 12.8%

Now, some people may call Kerry's attacks on the President hypocritical, given the extent to which the Kerrys are (legally) dodging their tax burden. But while they can afford fleets of lawyers to pay minimal taxes on massive incomes, most Americans cannot and Kerry even voted against the President's tax cut for middle class families. So, let the voters make their own judgments about Kerry's attitude towards taxes. It's another instance of cheap talk by Kerry versus proven action by the President.

Note: According to a Congressional Budget Office study (last panel of Table 4) requested by Democrats, the burden of federal income taxes falls more heavily on the wealthy after President Bush's tax cut than before. So if the Democrats want to undo the President's tax cut, they will be making the system less progressive.

Drudge also picks up the scent.

And John Kerry's own Hometown Newspaper, the Boston Globe also is on the Story. This story also includes copies of the financial documents signed by Mr. Kerry.