“Let it work; for ’tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petard: and ‘t shall go hard.”
- Hamlet Act III, Scene IV -
The Financial Times‘ Clive Crook says President Obama will have to break his campaign promise and raise taxes on the middle-class:
“Read my lips. No new taxes.” George Bush senior made that fatally memorable promise during his campaign for the White House. Later he saw that for the sake of the economy he would have to break it. When he did the right thing and went back on his word, he was vilified. It was a turning point in his presidency – his one-term presidency.
Much as Mr Obama would prefer to let the rich carry the burden alone, that will not be possible. The US tax code, contrary to popular perception, is heavily skewed towards taxing the rich. On plans already announced, it will soon be even more so. Before long, especially if you add state income taxes, the US will be a conspicuous outlier among industrial countries in how progressive its taxes are. (Emphasis Added)
Of course, it’s not surprising that there is a popular misperception that the rich do not pay their fair share. The Obama administration and congressional Democrats have cynically and calculatedly ginned up class envy in order to garner popular support for their expensive economic policies.
The irony is that the propaganda campaign may have worked too well. Democrats may have so thoroughly convinced the middle-class that only the rich should have to bear the burden of economic recovery that they may now be unable to raise middle-class taxes without suffering a fate similar to that of the first Bush.
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6 responses so far ↓
1 Thorne // Aug 12, 2009 at 12:04 pm
The president doesn’t have the power to raise taxes.
“Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.”
2 Peter // Aug 12, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Thorne,
You posted the same comment on another of my blog posts.
I suggest you tell the President that he has no power to raise taxes because he sure is stumping like he does.
The President has great influence over what Congress does regarding tax policy because tax bills do not become law without the President’s signature.
I can’t believe you didn’t know that.
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