The truth squad

A weekly look at some of the campaign rhetoric that made news

Published: October 17, 2004

ISSUE: TAX CUTS

WHO: George Bush

WHEN: Oct. 13

WHERE: Presidential debate, Tempe, Ariz.

CLAIM:

President Bush argued that his tax cuts were not tilted to the rich. "Most of the tax cuts went to low- and middle-income Americans," he said. "And now the tax code is more fair."

RESPONSE:

Kerry said the opposite was true. "Under President Bush, the ... middle class has seen their tax burden go up and the wealthiest tax burden's gone down. Now that's wrong."

REALITY:

Because there aren't as many people in the top 20 percent of earners as there are in the middle 60 percent, more people in the middle class got some tax cut. But in dollar value, it was no contest: The wealthiest 20 percent got 69.8 percent of the cuts, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Bush was wrong to say they favored low- and middle-income Americans.

But Kerry was wrong too. First, Congressional Budget Office figures show that for this year, the cuts have actually decreased the tax burden - the percent of income paid in taxes - for all income groups. And second, the cuts really didn't alter the share of the total burden much at all. Without the cuts, the richest 20 percent would have paid 64 percent of all federal taxes in 2004, and 78.4 percent of personal income taxes. Because of the cuts, they are paying 63.5 percent of all taxes and 82.1

percent of income taxes in 2004.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

The tax cuts let everyone keep more of their money, and left the relative share of each income class pretty much where it was.

ISSUE: DICK CHENEY'S GAY DAUGHTER

WHO: John Kerry

WHEN: Oct. 14

WHERE: Statement issued by campaign

CLAIM:

After Dick and Lynne Cheney criticized Kerry for bringing up their gay daughter, Mary, during a discussion of same-sex marriage in the debate Wednesday, Kerry responded: "I was trying to say something positive about the way strong families deal with this issue."

RESPONSE:

Bush campaign spokeswoman Nicole Devenish said Kerry was "backpedaling from what is a crass, below-the-belt political strategy to attack the vice president's daughter."

REALITY:

It's impossible to know if Kerry spoke out of calculation or with the best of intentions in the debate, but it is clear that in the aftermath both sides were distorting the words actually uttered.

Kerry brought up Mary Cheney's sexual orientation in response to a question about whether homosexuality is innate or a choice. Bush said he didn't know. Kerry said, "I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was; she's being who she was born as." Kerry said on Thursday that the words were a counter to the president, and included no "attack" on Mary Cheney.

BATTLEGROUND: IOWA

2000 Vote:

Gore 48.5%

Bush 48.2%

Other 3.2%

Electoral votes: 7

Residents without health insurance: 9.5%

Family farms: 90,000

Iowa is divided politically. Democrats control the governor's of.ce, but the GOP controls the legislature.

The Bush team considers victory a possibility because of Bush's strong 2000 showing in many of the rural counties and because Iowa was one of 13 states where he exceeded his father's 1988 percentage.

Kerry won the primary here, but his campaign has struggled in Iowa during the summer