PaulChristenson

Obama Takes Issue with McCain’s Definition of ‘Rich’

by FOXNews.com
Monday, August 18, 2008





Barack Obama seized the opportunity Monday to criticize comments made by his opponent John McCain over the weekend in which the presumptive GOP nominee defined wealthy Americans as those who make an income of $5 million or more.
“He [McCain] was in a panel the other day with Rick Warren, some of you may have seen it — and Rick Warren asked him — how do you define rich? He said — maybe he was joking — he said, ‘$5 million,’” Obama told a small group of women at a campaign event in Albuquerque, N.M.
“I guess if you’re making 3 million (dollars) a year, you’re middle class,” Obama said.
“That’s reflected in his policies,” he continued, adding that McCain would give a $500,000 tax break to people making more than $2.5 million.
“This is a fundamental difference in this election,” he said.
McCain predicted his remarks would be taken out of context when he responded to a question Saturday from prominent evangelical pastor Rick Warren during a televised forum on religious issues at Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif.
When Warren asked McCain how he defined “rich,” McCain replied by saying, “I think if you’re just talking about income, how about 5 million (dollars)?”
McCain quickly elaborated on his answer by adding, “I’m sure that comment will be distorted, but the point is … that we want to keep people’s taxes low and increase revenues.”
On Monday, McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds responded to Obama’s criticism, saying McCain had been prescient in his warning.
“As was immediately predicted by John McCain after he made the remark, Barack Obama is already distorting his comment about the definition of ‘rich’ in America. Remember when Barack Obama said he was ‘tired of distortion, name-calling and sound bite solutions to complicated problems?’ Neither do we,” Bounds said.
A McCain aide later told FOX News that the GOP frontrunner was “asked about defining who is rich in the context of raising taxes.”
McCain “firmly believes in not raising any American’s taxes. It’s not the job of government to define who is rich,” the aide said.
The remarks on income served to underscore the candidates’ differences on economic policy, which has become a central issue among voters’ angered over a stumbling economy.
Obama responded to the same question during the candidates’ joint appearance at the church Saturday by defining the wealthy as anyone making over $250,000 a year.
“I would argue that if you are making more than $250,000, then you are in the top 3, 4 percent of this country,” he said.
FOX News’ Bonney Kapp and Mosheh Oinounou contributed to this report.

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