"Need some wood?"

I'm sure all America got quite a laugh out of that Bush line in last night's debate. Unfortunately:

...Kerry startled Bush by saying that the president is counted as a small business for tax purposes because he once earned $84 from a timber company he owns.

"I own a timber company?" Bush asked. "That's news to me." Then he paused and added, "Need some wood?

That baffling exchange arises from an analysis by the Annenberg Public Policy Center's FactCheck.org debunking Bush's claims that Kerry's plans to raise taxes on the richest Americans would increase the tax burden on 900,000 small businesses.

The analysis found that the Bush campaign is counting every rich person who has even $1 of outside business income as a small business owner, even if they have no employees.

The analysis said even Bush qualifies under that definition because he reported $84 in income from his part-ownership of a timber enterprise on his 2001 federal tax return...

Politics · Fri, 10/08/2004 - 18:57 · · Importance: 1