Weekend Watchdog Wrap-Up

The Sunday shows score one for the Watchdog, actually asking a relevant question for Sen. John McCain.

When on Face The Nation, Sen. McCain proposed we "eliminate the AMT [Alternative Minimum Tax], make the tax cuts permanent and give
corporate America a tax reduction,".Bob Schieffer properly asked. "But do you think that rich people need a tax cut?"

That's not as specific a question about the AMT as the Watchdog proposed, but it was in the ballpark. We'll give Schieffer the nod.

McCain responded, "I think everybody needs a tax cut." Though over on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace noted that McCain sung a different tune back in 2001, saying "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who most need tax relief."

Our other Watchdog questions failed to be asked.

On Fox News Sunday, Wallace mentioned McCain's willingness to remain in Iraq for "100 years," but not challenge McCain's standard explanation -- "It's not a matter of how long Americans stay. It's a matter of American casualties" -- and ask him about the politically destabilizing impact of an effectively permanent military occupation.

And neither host mentioned McCain's inconsistent statement from last week's debate, saying Americans were both "better off" economically in the past seven years, and that things were "tough right now."

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