posted 10-29-2008 09:56 AM                  

By CARL CAMPANILE in Hershey, Pa., and BRENDAN SCOTT in NY
IT ADDS UP TO TROUBLE: Joe Biden, campaigning yesterday, spelled out his ideas on who should benefit from a tax cut - appearing to break with Barack Obama, who has said he'll cut taxes on all who earn less than $200,000.PHOTO
Gaffe-prone Joe Biden put his foot in his mouth again yesterday, mistakenly excluding millions of Americans from his running mate's tax-cut proposal.

The Delaware senator's latest blunder came while discussing Republican tax policies during a television interview in his hometown of Scranton, Pa.

EDITORIAL: Fair Warning

"What we're saying is, that $87 billion tax break doesn't need to go to people making an average of $1.4 million," Biden said.

"It should go to middle-class people, people who make $150,000 a year."

Actually, Barack Obama has promised to cut taxes on households earning less than $200,000 a year while raising taxes on those who make more than $250,000 annually.

John McCain quickly cashed in on the slip.

During a rally in Hershey, Pa., McCain told supporters the gaffe revealed the Democrats' true tax-and-spend intentions.

"It's interesting how their definition of 'rich' has a way of creeping down," McCain said.

"Senator Obama has made a lot of promises. First, he said people making less than $250,000 would benefit from his plan.

"Then, this weekend, he announced in an ad that if you're a family making less than $200,000 you'll benefit - but yesterday right here in Pennsylvania, Senator Biden said tax relief should only go to 'middle-class people' - people making under $150,000 a year.

"At this rate, it won't be long before Senator Obama is right back to his vote that Americans making just $42,000 a year should get a tax increase.

"We can't let that happen," McCain added.

The Republican nominee has pounded Obama on taxes recently as economic woes have come to dominate the political debate.

Biden's tax faux pas provided a new distraction for Obama as he tried to focus on broad, uplifting themes, like "change" and "hope," in the final week of swing-state stumping.

Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor issued a statement that corrected the vice-presidential candidate without explicitly saying so.

"No family making less than $250,000 will see their tax increases one cent," Vietor said. "And if your family makes less than $200,000 - as 95 percent of workers and their families do - you'll get a tax cut."

Vietor went on to call McCain's attack on Biden "desperate."

"Maybe the McCain campaign keeps lying about Obama's tax plan because with seven days left in this election, voters are rejecting McCain's plan to give billions more in tax giveaways to big corporations and the wealthiest Americans," he said.

Also during the stop in Hershey, McCain took a moment to shrug off reports of discord between his campaign staff and his running mate, Sarah Palin.

"By the way, when two mavericks join up, we don't agree on everything," McCain said. "But that's a lot of fun! It's wonderful to fool the pundits." With Post Wire Services

brendan.scott@nypost.com