Hillarysworld
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TOPIC: "Read his lips: Obama backs off on middle class tax hike ban" (Wash. Examiner 2/12/10) "Bam's tax betrayal" (NYPost)
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The White House brushed off questions about President Obama's new, "agnostic" stance on middle class tax increases, signaling a potential reversal on a key campaign promise. "The president is just not going to get in the game of prejudging the outcome of a commission that, one hasn't been set up and hasn't met," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. Obama is hoping for Republican support on a bipartisan commission to draft revenue generators and spending cuts. But after repeatedly pledging not to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year, Obama told Bloomberg he is now "agnostic" on such a plan. "The whole point of it is to make sure that all ideas are on the table," Obama said. "So what I want to do is to be completely agnostic, in terms of solutions." Asked how Obama's new agnosticism squares with his previous opposition to tax increases for the middle class, Gibbs said Obama "is not a member of this commission." However, in the next 10 days or so, Obama is expected to create the panel and name its members. Many Republicans, who originally supported the idea when it was first floated in Congress, have soured on the commission since Obama embraced it, calling it a stalking horse for tax increases. [snip] In creating the commission, the president faces three immediate problems. Originally billed as a means for building consensus, the commission is effectively being defined by its critics as a way for the administration to dodge fiscal responsibility. The president also faces the hard truth of a record-high, $1.6 trillion federal deficit this year, amid pressure from his own party not to cut spending on popular programs in a congressional election cycle. But politicians are uncommonly superstitious about raising taxes after promising not to. Former President George H.W. Bush famously lost his campaign for a second term after breaking his "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge. Obama has been no less emphatic, telling a joint session of Congress and the nation last year that "If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime." "=============================== "Bam's tax betrayalLast Updated: 10:44 AM, February 12, 2010Posted: February 12, 2010 Remember Joe the Plumber? He was the blue-collar dude who confronted Barack Obama late in the 2008 campaign with this challenge: "Your new tax plan's going to tax me more, isn't it?" Nonsense, replied the candidate: "From 250 [thousand dollars a year] down, your taxes are going to stay the same." Indeed, he insisted, 95 percent of "working people" would see their taxes go down in his administration. Well, think again. A year into his presidency, Obama now says he's "agnostic" on what was the principal plank in his economic platform: No tax hikes for individuals making $200,000 a year or less -- or for households with a combined annual income under $250,000. The president is about to appoint a task force (not another one!) to study reining in the national deficit -- and, he says, "what I want to do is to be completely agnostic in terms of solutions." Meaning, says Obama, that he "can't set the whole thing up where a whole bunch of things are off the table." Including his once-sacred tax pledge. [snip] Now, it seems, he's willing to consider anything -- including tax hikes on the middle class -- in order to deal with the massive deficit ($1.56 trillion projected for 2010) he helped create. Everything, that is, but what he and the Congress should be moving toward -- spending restraint. In fact, says the president, "The notion that somehow we can just cut our way out of this problem is just not true." Well, cutting runaway government spending may not solve the problem -- but it's the best place to start. After all, as Obama acknowledged, "There is just a mismatch between the amount of money coming in and the amount of money going out." Yet the president seems to think that the right solution is to make sure that more money comes into the government's coffers -- by way of higher taxes. [SNIP]Joe the Plumber knew that. So does Barack Obama. But he just doesn't care. "Full article=============================== So much for assurances. This is becoming yet another "Read My Lips" fib. -- Edited by Sanders on Friday 12th of February 2010 11:46:29 AM Democracy needs defending - SOS Hillary Clinton, Sept 8, 2010 Democracy is more than just elections - SOS Hillary Clinton, Oct 28, 2010 Madam Secretary Blog at ForeignPolicy.com Project Vote Smart - Stay informed and engaged! |
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