As John McCain is set to talk economy this week, beginning with a speech today in Denver, his campaign released a statement attacking Obama for his tax proposals. Obama himself is talking economy as well, as he appears in Charlotte today.

From McCain senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin:

Date: July 7, 2008

Re: Credibility Gap: Barack Obama's Vote To Tax Those Making As Little As $32,000

This year, Barack Obama returned to the United States Senate twice to vote in favor of a budget resolution which raises income tax rates by three percentage points for the 25, 28 and 33 percent tax brackets. This would mean a tax increase for those earning as little as $32,000.

While Barack Obama campaigns on a promise of no tax hikes for anyone but the rich, we once again find that his words are empty when it comes time to act. In both March and June, Barack Obama could have put the force of his vote behind his words. Instead, he decided that "rich" now means those making just $32,000 per year.

Over the past several weeks, Barack Obama has made it increasingly difficult to take him at his word on anything. After pledging to accept public financing, he decided not to. After saying he would debate "anywhere, anytime," he decided against participating in any of the ten joint town hall meetings. After backing the D.C. handgun ban, he now says it was unconstitutional. After pledging to filibuster the FISA bill, he voted for it. He is running ads taking credit for welfare reform that he opposed. He is claiming to be bipartisan even though he has never voted against his party on any major issue. He has backtracked on trade. He has backtracked on abortion. And last week for the space of several hours, he held the position that he would listen to our commanders in Iraq if they say we need to stay longer to secure the gains of the surge.

All this political "refining" has resulted in a credibility gap. Since we can no longer simply take Barack Obama at his word, we are left to examine his actions.

Based on his actions and votes, Barack Obama is going to raise taxes on nearly every American. If you make over $32,000 per year, Barack Obama has voted to raise your taxes. If you own stocks, Barack Obama has a plan to raise your taxes. During the primary, he proposed lifting the cap on income subject to Social Security taxation. He has proposed to repeat the failed Windfall Profits Tax and new taxes on natural gas and coal. He is going to raise taxes on small businesses. There is no group rich, poor or other who will not be adversely impacted by his tax increases.

Even more troubling, Barack Obama has proposed increasing Washington spending and expanding government programs while failing to outline how he will pay for his proposals. Where will Barack Obama make up the difference? Unfortunately, we already know the answer. If we ignore his words and look at his record, he will not hesitate to tax any Americans at any income level.

This is a question of credibility. And on ensuring that we can grow our economy by keeping taxes low and more money in the pockets of taxpayers, Barack Obama's record of action shows that his words are empty.

As prepared for delivery, here is an excerpt from Obama's speech in Charlotte today:

Senator McCain said earlier this year that America has made "great progress economically" over the past eight years. He believes we're on the right track, and he's launching a new economic tour today with policies that are very much the same as those we have seen from the Bush Administration.

In fact, the central component of Senator McCain's economic plan is $300 billion more in tax cuts for big corporations and multimillionaires -- less than a quarter of which will benefit the 80% of American families that make up the bulk of our middle-class. Less than a quarter.

Under Senator McCain's economic plan, Exxon Mobil -- a company that recently reported the biggest profit in history -- would get $1.2 billion in tax breaks, while less than a quarter of the benefits would go to the middle-class. What's worse -- he has no concrete plan to pay for these tax breaks, so his policies would actually add more than $2 or $3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade and weaken our economy even further. If this sounds familiar, it's because it's exactly what George Bush has done for the last eight years. It hasn't worked, it won't work, and it is time to try something new.