Palin Lies on Taxes, and McCain's 477 Votes to Raise Taxes

PALIN: I would like to respond about the tax increases. We can speak in agreement here that darn right we need tax relief for Americans so that jobs can be created here. Now, Barack Obama and Sen. Biden also voted for the largest tax increases in U.S. history. Barack had 94 opportunities to side on the people's side and reduce taxes and 94 times he voted to increase taxes or not support a tax reduction, 94 times.

Now, that's not what we need to create jobs and really bolster and heat up our economy. We do need the private sector to be able to keep more of what we earn and produce. Government is going to have to learn to be more efficient and live with less if that's what it takes to reign in the government growth that we've seen today. But we do need tax relief and Barack Obama even supported increasing taxes as late as last year for those families making only $42,000 a year. That's a lot of middle income average American families to increase taxes on them. I think that is the way to kill jobs and to continue to harm our economy.

IFILL: Senator?

BIDEN: The charge is absolutely not true. Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes. The vote she's referring to, John McCain voted the exact same way. It was a budget procedural vote. John McCain voted the same way. It did not raise taxes. Number two, using the standard that the governor uses, John McCain voted 477 times to raise taxes. It's a bogus standard ...

Biden is 100% correct. As we've noted before, the claim that Obama voted to raise taxes 94 times is bogus. I was glad to see Biden point that if you by the same methodology the Republicans use to come up with the 94 figure, McCain has voted to raise taxes 477 times.

After I heard Jason Furman use the 477 number during the Democratic Convention, I looked up some of McCain's votes for tax increases. These have included votes to increase excise taxes for public charities, increase insurance taxes, increase taxes on vaccines, increase taxes on phone cards, and increase taxes on airline tickets.