RNC Chairman Responds to Democrat Ad

WASHINGTON, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- RNC Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan released the following statement today:

"Howard Dean's new ad recklessly distorts John McCain's statements and represents the sort of dishonest campaigning voters are sick of. Echoing Obama's discredited attacks on John McCain will not make voters forget the Democrats' plans to raise taxes on hard-working Americans. The FEC reports that have been filed will show that the RNC maintains a huge financial advantage over the DNC, and to the extent Howard Dean can afford to actually run these ads, it will be out of a position of weakness."

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R3EU1y0Pr0

Obama Selectively Quoted Sen. McCain On Economic Comments:

"Obama Picked Up Comments Senator McCain Made Yesterday On Bloomberg TV That Economic Progress Has Been Made Under George W. Bush." (Bonney Kapp, "Obama Says McCain Is 'Disconnected' On Economy," http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/04/18/obama-says-mccain-is-disconnected- on-economy/, 4/18/08)

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-- "'I Think If You Look At The Overall Record And Millions Of Jobs Have
Been Created, Et Cetera, Et Cetera, You Could Make An Argument That
There's Been Great Progress Economically Over That Period Of Time,'
McCain Said." (Bonney Kapp, "Obama Says McCain Is 'Disconnected' On
Economy," http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/04/18/obama-says-mccain
is-disconnected-on-economy/, 4/18/08)
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"The McCain Campaign Quickly Sent Out Their Candidate's Full Remarks On Bloomberg, Showing McCain Qualified His Statement. 'But That's No Comfort. That's No Comfort To Families Now That Are Facing These Tremendous Economic Challenges,' McCain Said." (Bonney Kapp, "Obama Says McCain Is 'Disconnected' On Economy," http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/04/18/obama-says-mccain-is- disconnected-on-economy/, 4/18/08)

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-- "Obama Did Not Quote McCain's Addendum, But Minutes Before Hitting The
Republican For Saying There Was Economic Progress, Obama Himself
Admitted, "Our Economy Actually Expanded Over The Last Seven Years,
That's True." (Bonney Kapp, "Obama Says McCain Is 'Disconnected' On
Economy," http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/04/18/obama-says-mccain
is-disconnected-on-economy/, 4/18/08)
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Sens. Hillary Clinton And Barack Obama Both Plan To Raise Taxes Significantly If Elected:

Obama Has Called For Higher Income Taxes, Social Security Taxes, Investment Taxes, And Corporate Taxes, As Well As "Massive New Domestic Spending." "Obama's transformation, if you go by his campaign so far, would mean higher income taxes, higher Social Security taxes, higher investment taxes, higher corporate taxes, massive new domestic spending, and a healthcare plan that perhaps could be the next step to a full-scale, single-payer system. Is that what most Americans want, someone who will fulfill a Democratic policy wish list?" (James Pethokoukis, "Barack Hussein Reagan? Ronald Wilson Obama?," U.S. News & World Report's "Capital Commerce" Blog, http://www.usnews.com/, 2/12/08)

-- Obama Has Also Said He'd Tax "Dirty Energy" Like Coal And Natural
Gas. Obama: "What we ought to tax is dirty energy, like coal and, to a
lesser extent, natural gas." ("Q&A With Sen. Barack Obama," San
Antonio Express-News, 2/19/08)

Sen. Clinton Has Called For Higher Taxes For "The Common Good." Sen. Clinton: "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." (Beth Fouhy, "San Francisco Rolls Out The Red Carpet For The Clintons," The Associated Press, 6/29/04)

-- Sen. Clinton:"[S]omething Has To Be Taken Away From Some People." (Sen.
Hillary Clinton, Remarks At The Pentecost 2007 Forum At George
Washington University, Washington, D.C., 6/4/07)

NOTE: Obama's Chief Economic Advisor Has Said That Higher Taxes Could "Significantly Reduce" Americans' Retirement Savings. Austan Goolsbee: "Future increases in tax rates potentially threaten to significantly reduce the value of your retirement savings and may even mean that you should not save in 401(k) accounts at all."(Austan Goolsbee, Op-Ed, "In Retirement Planning, There Is Nothing Certain About Death And Taxes," The New York Times, 11/9/06)

Paid for by the Republican National Committee.
310 First Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003 (202) 863-8500 -- http://www.gop.com/

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R3EU1y0Pr0

Source: Republican National Committee

CONTACT: Press Office of the Republican National Committee,
+1-202-863-8614

Web site: http://www.gop.com/
http://www.usnews.com/

2008-04-20 12:29:32 0339991 PRNEWSWIRE