2 Obama administration officials can’t guarantee middle-class Americans won’t see tax hike
Barack Obama’s treasury secretary said Sunday he cannot rule out higher taxes to help tame an exploding budget deficit, and his chief economic adviser would not dismiss raising them on middle-class Americans as part of a health care overhaul.
As the White House sought to balance campaign rhetoric with governing, officials appeared willing to extend unemployment benefits. With former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan saying he is “pretty sure we’ve already seen the bottom” of the recession, Obama aides sought to defend the economic stimulus and calm a jittery public.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers both sidestepped questions on Obama’s intentions about taxes. Geithner said the White House was not ready to rule out a tax hike to lower the federal deficit; Summers said Obama’s proposed health care overhaul needs funding from somewhere.
“There is a lot that can happen over time,” Summers said, adding that the administration believes “it is never a good idea to absolutely rule things out, no matter what.”
During his presidential campaign, Obama repeatedly vowed “you will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime.” But the simple reality remains that his ambitious overhaul of how Americans receive health care — promised without increasing the federal deficit — must be paid for.
“If we want an economy that’s going to grow in the future, people have to understand we have to bring those deficits down. And it’s going to be difficult, hard for us to do. And the path to that is through health care reform,” Geithner said. “We’re not at the point yet where we’re going to make a judgment about what it’s going to take.”
Selling that proposal, however, has proved tricky.
On Friday, the government released a report that suggested the worst recession in the United States since World War II appears on the verge of ending. The economy dipped only slightly in the second quarter of this year — falling at a 1 percent annual pace, better than expected.
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Wild Thing’s comment…….
Well, this is a a guarantee that taxes will be going up.
Now we will see the MSM attempting to justify his going back on a campaign promise. And they will most certainly try. They already have.
There is no limit to the incompetence of “The Divine One,” his Apostles and Disciples.
I knew the moment obama was elected that my taxes would go up. I knew they would go up for everyone. It is not just personal income taxes. It will be corporate taxes which is just a roundabout tax on individuals(consumers). I also expect a significant increase in inflation before 2012. obama has the same economic ideas as Jimmy Carter had, tax and spend big time.
obama is a pathological liar. He has no remorse about saying anything to get what he wants. A typical politician. We will hear a lot more lies from him the next three years.
We have to Understand We have to bring the deficits down. We the People didn’t get them up that high in the first place.
And if they were really serious about deficit control they’d cut taxes and watch the revenus just grow almost on its own. But then they can’t control people’s lives that way. This is what obama is all about controlling our lives, every aspect of it, the more the better.
Tom, I agree and we tried to tell everyone
that Obama would raise taxes on every income
bracket not just the very rich. His voters
would not listen.
Mark, what you said is exctly what they
should do, a conservative would do that,
hell will freeze before Obama and his ilk
would even consider doing a positive
thing for our economy and our country.