ST. LOUIS — In an outbreak of class warfare, John McCain and Barack Obama swapped sharply worded charges over tax cuts Saturday, each accusing the other of shortchanging middle-income Americans at a time of economic hardship for millions.
McCain, trailing in the polls, fired the first volley, likening his rival to the socialist leaders of Europe and saying he wanted to “convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing massive amounts of wealth at the direction of politicians in Washington.”
McCain added: “Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut; it’s just another government giveaway.”
Obama responded a few hours later in an appearance before a crowd estimated at 100,000 in St. Louis, saying his Republican rival “wants to cut taxes for the same people who have already been making out like bandits, in some cases literally.”
“John McCain is so out of touch with the struggles you are facing that he must be the first politician in history to call a tax cut for working people ‘welfare,’ ” Obama said.
