Obama hits back on McCain’s ‘welfare’ ad

Barack Obama on Saturday took aim at John McCain for calling his tax-cut proposal “welfare", part of his effort to flip the issue to Democrats’ favor in the presidential campaign.

“That’s right, Missouri – John McCain is so out of touch with the struggles you are facing that he must be the first politician in history to call a tax cut for working people ‘welfare,’ ” Obama said in excerpted remarks provided by his campaign.

{mosads}Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) was to deliver the remarks in St. Louis on Saturday.

The McCain campaign launched an ad Friday playing off Sen. McCain’s (R-Ariz.) repeated references to a small business owner he has labeled “Joe the Plumber,” who was concerned about how Obama’s tax cuts would affect his desire to own a small business.

The ad first references “leading papers” that have called Obama’s proposal “welfare” for spreading the wealth around.

“Obama raises taxes on seniors, hard working families, to give ‘welfare’ to those who pay none,” the ad states.

Obama used the issue to attach McCain to President Bush, whose tax cuts McCain has vowed to extend.

“The only ‘welfare’ in this campaign is John McCain’s plan to give another $200 billion in tax cuts to the wealthiest corporations in America – including $4 billion in tax breaks to big oil companies that ran up record profits under George Bush,” Obama says in the remarks. “That’s who John McCain is fighting for.”