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Taxes are Going Up, and Up, and Up

By Doug Bandow on 8.29.09 @ 4:07PM

Forget President Barack Obama's pledge of no increase in taxes for most of us. Taxes will be going skyward.

During last year's campaign, President Obama vowed to enact a bold agenda without raising taxes for the middle class, a pledge budget experts viewed with skepticism. Since then, a severe recession, massive deficits and a national debt that is swelling toward a 50-year high have only made his promise harder to keep.

The Obama administration has insisted that the pledge will stand. But the president's top economic advisers have refused to rule out broad-based tax increases to close the yawning gap between federal revenue and government spending and are warning of tough choices ahead.

Republicans are already on the attack, accusing Obama of plotting to break his no-tax vow, the same political transgression that cost Democrats control of Congress under former president Bill Clinton and may have cost president George H.W. Bush his job. Democrats say Obama is highly unlikely to break the pledge before next year's congressional election and observe that it would be safer to wait until his second term if a tax increase becomes unavoidable.

Some lawmakers are focused instead on setting up an independent commission to solve the deficit problem. Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) plans to hold hearings on the topic when Congress returns to Washington this fall.

Obama, meanwhile, has vowed to pay for any new initiatives and to draft an overhaul of the health-care system that eventually would save the government money, driving deficits down. But effective health reforms would take decades to produce savings. In the meantime, White House budget director Peter R. Orszag acknowledged, "there are additional steps that will be necessary."

The president hasn't been straight with us. But so what else is new?

View all comments (8) | Leave a comment

Daisy| 8.29.09 @ 4:32PM

I'm thinking about those envious losers who were so eager to "Stick it to the rich," and I'm laughing my rear end off. Class warfare is what fascist liberals do best. I have nothing but contempt for all of them.

Thomas Jefferson--"People get the government the deserve." Says it all.

ConservativeWanderer| 8.29.09 @ 6:05PM

Democrats say Obama is highly unlikely to break the pledge before next year's congressional election and observe that it would be safer to wait until his second term if a tax increase becomes unavoidable.

"his second term"?

At the rate people are getting wise to what Hopeandchange really means, that statement strikes me as "unrealistic optimism."

MarkJ| 8.29.09 @ 7:45PM

ConservativeWanderer,

"At the rate people are getting wise to what Hopeandchange really means, that statement strikes me as "unrealistic optimism."

Precisely. I've been opining about this for months. In fact, I suspect the following conversation has already occurred behind Oval Office doors:

David Axelrod: "So, Mr. President, what do you intend to accomplish in your second term?"

Obama: "Hey, I'm still trying to figure out how I'll get through my FIRST term in one piece. Got any good ideas, Einstein?"

JP| 8.29.09 @ 8:46PM

Personally, I don't think the issue can wait until 2012 or 2013. Foreign markets will price the dollar accordingly, and trillions of dollars of additional debt will only drive the dollar lower and bond rates higher. Watch commodity prices (esp Gold) during the next several quarters.

The recent surge in stock prices are not a good sign. Overall, the economy continues to contract, but with all that additonal cash sloshing around the markets (thank you Geitner) and 0% interest rates, a new bubble may be forming in equities. That, and blue chip firms are taking advantage of the recession by slashing North Ameircan jobs.

dannydai| 8.30.09 @ 1:14AM

Spicy Joker| 8.30.09 @ 10:54PM

If Obama doesn't raise taxes before 2012, he won't be able to pay for any of the free goodies he has promised.

runescape gold| 8.31.09 @ 2:47AM

Consumption, you have to play RS for such a long time, so u must have normal consumption records; dont just save gold.

Grzmlyk| 8.31.09 @ 8:10AM

No doubt Bob will make his obligatory appearance to tell us we "right wingers" are whining about nothing since effective tax rates have remained remarkably constant over the last 50 years or so.

So when your paycheck feels significantly lighter to you, just remember: It's only your ideologically-driven perception.