Other McCain Tax Inconsistencies

McCain had been a strong supporter of a major increase in the cigarette tax in the late '90s, and as recently as October 2007 he said:

I still regret we did not succeed

However, in 2007 he voted against a much smaller cigarette tax increase because the revenue would be targeted towards children's health, which he felt was unrelated to smoking.


In March 2007, McCain stated that there was absolutely no way he would allow a tax increase:

Ponnuru: If you could get the Democrats to agree, or at least to come to the table on entitlements or on tax simplification, are those circumstances under which you’d be willing to accept a tax increase?
Sen. McCain: No; no.
Ponnuru: No circumstances?
Sen. McCain: No. None. None.

In February 2008, McCain again clearly stated that he would not support any new taxes

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked McCain if he were a “‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 pledge.
“No new taxes,” McCain responded.
“But under circumstances would you increase taxes?” Stephanopoulos continued.
“No,” McCain answered.

But by March 2008, he said that he would not make any such pledge:

Asked about his “no new taxes” pledge on national television two weeks ago, McCain walked his comments back. “I’m not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes,” he said. “But I’m not saying I can envision a scenario where I would, OK?”

In May 2008, McCain said that he would consider a windfall profits tax on oil companies:

I don’t like obscene profits being made anywhere–and I’d be glad to look not just at the windfall profits tax–that’s not what bothers me.

But by June 2008, he was a harsh critic of the idea, stating that Obama

wants a windfall profits tax on oil, to go along with the new taxes he also plans for coal and natural gas. If the plan sounds familiar, it's because that was President Jimmy Carter's big idea too -- and a lot of good it did us.

On July 27, 2008, McCain made it clear that a tax hike was on the table for saving Social Security:

"There is nothing I would take off the table. There was nothing I would demand," McCain told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview on "This Week." "I think that’s the way that Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill did it -- and that's what we have to do again."
When asked if that includes a possible hike in the payroll tax, McCain reiterated that nothing -- including such a tax hike -- is "off the table."

By July 30, 2008, he had nuanced his stance, now saying that he would never support raising any taxes, but still implying that it could happen.


More inconsistencies in McCain's tax record can be seen in this position paper by The Club for Growth, a very anti-tax organization. Even McCain's surrogates are getting confused.