The Voice - Student Newspaper

Vice Presidents come on strong in 2008

By Michelle Tabatabai-Shahab
Reporter, The VOICE

Could Republican vice president candidate Sarah Palin's false accusations sway voters against Brack Obama? Palin constantly makes false claims not only against the Democratic Party but also in making the Republican Party seem favorable. Meanwhile, when democratic vice president candidate Joe Biden must defend the Democratic Party, he stumbles over the facts as if he is not sure what exactly his party proposes.

Who do you believe when it comes to health care issues, tax increases and the Iraqi war? When it comes to the issues America cares about most, the issues that will sway voters, health care, taxation, and foreign issues, Biden and Palin are only arguing their mutual false information.

With concerns aimed at health care, Palin claimed that McCain's health care plan wouldn't cost the government anything. However, The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center estimated that McCain's plan would only cover 5 million of the current uninsured, increasing the deficit by $1.3 trillion over 10 years.

Palin also made a false argument that Obama's health plan would be run entirely by the government; more accurately, Obama's plan would not replace private insurance, or require people to have a public health plan; he would only increase the option to have publicly funded health care.

Referring to increasing taxes, Palin repeatedly declared that Barack Obama voted in favor of raising taxes on families with as little as $42,000 income. Also, Palin exaggerated that Obama voted for tax increases 94 times.

Research concludes that Obama has voted consistently to restore higher tax rates on high income taxpayers, not affecting middle and low income workers. Obama has been consistent with what he'll propose as president, "to raise taxes only on those making more than $250,000 a year."

In defending Obama, Biden also wrongly accused McCain of "voting the exact same way" when McCain neglected to vote.

One of the most advertised and flawed argument that Palin and the Republican party has made has to do with the claim that "millions of small businesses would see a tax increase under Obama's tax proposals." At most, only several hundred thousand small business owners would be affected by an increase due to the possible higher income.

In recent statements about Iraq, Palin falsely claimed that troop levels returned to "pre-surge" levels. In actuality, troop levels are slowly decreasing but still higher than the pre-surge number.

In January 2007 there were 132,000 troops in Iraq, according to the Brookings Institute Iraq Index. In September 2008, that number went up to 146,000 troops in Iraq, with some 8,000 coming home by February 2009, leaving 6,000 more troops in Iraq than there was when the surge began. In all honesty, both candidtates aren't debating honestly.