We all heard it… well, at least some of us heard it.  In the last Presidential debate, Sen. Obama said that, contrary to what Sen. McCain said about his financial plan, his plan would not effect over 90% of small businesses, because those businesses don’t make over the $250,000 threshold that would see a tax cut instead of a tax increase.

Ok, but the problem here is that we have to figure out what Sen. Obama means by small business.  Because the Small Business Administration Size Table states that he’s flat out wrong.

What is a Small Business?

Quickly looking at the table, you see that many of the Crop Producing small businesses are considered small while they’re under $750,000 (with Cattle Feedlots at $2.5 million and Chicken Egg Production at $12.5 million).  Fishing, Hunting and Trapping?  $4 million.  Support for Agriculture and Forestry?  $7.0 million.  Construction of Buildings? $33.5 million.  Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction?  $33.5 million.  Specialty Trade Contractors?  $14 million.

Conclusion: The statement that he made is ludicrous.  There is no industry on this table with a high number of $250,000—they are all above.  He’s either lying or he has another definition for small business.  One that we need to hear.

What is a Tax Cut?

This isn’t the only place where we have a stretch in terms of what words imply and what they really mean.  In terms of the tax cut that Sen. Obama is touting—the one that is for 95% of the people who earn a wage in the United States.  It’s an illusion.

Like what I said earlier about the stimulus program being a gateway to socialism, Sen. Obama’s tax plan is actually about taking government money that they took from someone else and giving it to you.  This isn’t a cut—a cut would imply that you are already paying taxes and they’re reducing the burden—it’s a redistribution.

It’s equivalent of your neighbor coming to your house and taking part of your paycheck because “that’s only fair.”

It’s not a tax cut by a legitimate definition of the word.  But then again, most politicians don’t tell you what they are really proposing, and we know that most of them even have trouble telling us the definition of simple words like “is”.

McCain has announced that he’s going to suspend his campaign to go back to Washington to address the financial crisis we find ourselves in:

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved.I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

And when I showed this to my coworker he stated the obvious: This is a politician talking.  And I’ll admit, as one who’s evaluated things that have happened before in terms of perception, this seems like a really great move—especially since McCain did it first.

The problem is, most people don’t trust McCain as it is.  He may truly be this concerned about the problem.  He may truly understand the scope and want to get involved.  He may be above the fray—but regardless of all of this, a bunch of people are going to say he’s just doing it to get attention, to get favorable press, and to try to keep Obama from campaigning.

It’s a potentially game-changing announcement, and underscores the whole “experience” and “country first” theme of his campaign—which is why it’s hard to buy that it’s not also a political strategy.

UPDATE (4:30 PM EST):

• Sen. McCain has instructed his staff to take his ads down.
• Sen. Obama wants to go ahead with the debate.

UPDATE (4:50 PM EST):

• I’ve seen what I think will be the theme of why Sen. Obama’s going to keep right on going from Twitter: mommystory Did Obama just imply that leaders should multitask? Imagine that!