“The lady doth protest too much, methinks”
- Hamlet -
On Sunday Secretary of Treasury, Tim “Turbo Tax” Geithner had this exchange with George Stephanopoulos about whether or not the administration would consider increasing taxes on the middle-class:
STEPHANOPOULOS: But you’re not ruling it out. You can’t rule it out.
GEITHNER: Well, I think that what the country needs to do is understand we’re going to have to do what it takes. We’re going to do what’s necessary.
Go here for a transcript of the entire interview.
And Lawrence Summers, the President’s chief economic advisor, said this when asked a similar question on Face the Nation:
It’s never a good idea to absolutely rule things out no matter what.
Obama had pledged during the 2008 campaign that that he would not increase taxes on the middle-class.
Yesterday, because of Geithner’s and Summers’ statements and the criticism they aroused from both the right and the moderate left, Obama was forced to re-voice his pledge through White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs:
The president was clear during the campaign about his commitment on not raising taxes on middle-class families. And I don’t think any economist would believe that in the environment that we’re in raising taxes on middle-class families would make any sense, and the president agrees.
According to the New York Times, one anti-tax conservative has called for the firing of Geithner and Summers:
Obama should fire Geithner and Summers,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, a group that opposes tax increases.
“They went on national television and implied the president lied his way into office and that he is open to raising taxes.”
My Observations: It is hard to believe that both of the President’s top economic and tax policy advisors would not know that he was opposed to middle-class tax increases? That would indicate a serious and disturbing lack of communication between the President and these advisors.
(Does Mr. Obama have the same communication problem with Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, or Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates?)
Another and perhaps more plausible explanation for the comments is that the President wanted to float the trial balloon of a middle-class tax hike to see how the public would react.
In other words, he instructed Geithner and Summers to say what they did?
6 responses so far ↓
1 Thorne // Aug 5, 2009 at 11:26 am
It’s not up to the president to raise or lower taxes.
Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes . . . .
2 Peter // Aug 5, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Thorne,
You are correct about Congress having the power to lay and collect taxes, but you are wrong if you say the President doesn’t have great influence over what tax legislation gets signed into law.
Whatever tax policy Congress writes, the President must sign or it doesn’t become law.
3 Cato Institute: The Price of High Taxes // Aug 13, 2009 at 5:07 pm
[...] Obama Floats Trial Balloon of Middle Class Tax Hikes, Balloon Bursts [...]
4 Tax Distribution and the Obama Regime // Aug 23, 2009 at 8:35 am
[...] Obama Floats Trial Balloon on Middle Class Tax Hikes, Balloon Bursts [...]
5 Online Tax Poll: Will President Obama Raise Taxes on the Middle Class? // Aug 28, 2009 at 12:22 am
[...] Obama has promised that he will not raise taxes on the middle class, yet several economists, including two members of his own cabinet, have suggested that the promise might not be [...]
6 Barney // Jul 19, 2010 at 5:50 pm
They already are with complete transparency. But what most people fail to realize is that transparency really means how invisible something is, or rather how hard it is to see. So yes they are doing this invisibly behind our backs and under the table.
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