RALEIGH, N.C. – Democrat Barack Obama on Monday seized on heightened concerns about the economy, tying John McCain to the Bush administration’s recent record of soaring gasoline prices and slumping employment.
Launching a two-week economics tour in a state the GOP usually considers safe, Obama warned that McCain’s policies on taxes, spending and energy would continue the nation’s slump, which some fear is already a recession. He called for new taxes on oil companies and wealthy individuals, along with $1,000 tax cuts for most working families.
With the presidential general election now fully engaged, McCain pushed back, saying Obama’s bid to end the administration’s tax cuts for upper-income earners would only worsen the economy. He is airing TV ads in key states on the Iraq war, which he sees as a better issue this fall. But he took questions on the economy from donors in Virginia on Monday, and planned a speech Tuesday to small-business owners in Washington.
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