In his rather “prickly” press conference on Wednesday, President Obama made it sound as if tax increases (or, to use the Democrats’ language, “cutting spending in the tax code”) were part of a last resort at trimming the deficit as the federal government reaches its $14 trillion debt ceiling. He even referred to “tax breaks for corporate jet owners” (see here for background on the absurdity of that language) as “tough decisions”:
So the bottom line is this: Any agreement to reduce our deficit is going to require tough decisions and balanced solutions. And before we ask our seniors to pay more for health care, before we cut our children’s education, before we sacrifice our commitment to the research and innovation that will help create more jobs in the economy, I think it’s only fair to ask an oil company or a corporate jet owner that has done so well to give up a tax break that no other business enjoys.
So, that’s the rhetoric during the debt ceiling debate. The President is the “adult in the room,” prescribing tough medicine for tough times. Right? Well, what did he say before the debt ceiling concerns and before the severity of the recession was clear?
The Daily Caller‘s Mary Katharine Ham put together a series of clips during the election season showing then-Candidate Obama running for the Democratic nomination:
So don’t let him fool you, the President’s tax hikes are about “spreading the wealth around,” not avoiding a debt crisis.
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Comments
Look, Obama is a liar. We, who really listened to him without stars in our eyes, know he is a liar. So, we shouldn’t be shocked that a liar lies. We’re just shocked that Obama is such a stupid liar. We’re offended that a man of his limited intellect would think that the rest of us are stupid because, um, we didn’t go to HAVAHD, doncherknow!
If raising the taxes were the answer, why do Democrats ignore that John Kennedy actually convinced Congress to reduce the personal income tax rate, from 20-91% in 1961 to 16-77% in 1964 after he pushed tax reduction in 1963 going down to 14-70% in 1965? Kennedy was clear, in his speech to New York businessmen, that lowering taxes, both personal and corporate, allowed for a greater flow of money and consequently, higher revenues for the federal government (pure Austian philosphy).
Now Obama wants to tax those private planes, when the very legislation he pushed gave them EXTRA tax deductions. Perhaps he has forgotten that his inauguration, which the left calls “historic” saw the arrival of over 600 private jets to Washington, D.C. for the event.
Obama has now determined that he is the adult in the room, demanding that Congress forfeit their July 4th vacation, while he toddles on off to campaign and line his coffers or plays another round of golf. The truth of the matter is that Obama is in full-blown campaign mode again (as if he ever left it) and has to find another boogie man to attack for his failure to deliver. Blaming G.W. worked during the last campaign, but after 2 1/2 years of Obama, increasing unemployment rates, increasing mortgage forclosures, low GDP, more banks going under (a totally unreported story) and the uncertainty that is going to be brought about by the Dodd-Frank bill, he can no longer demonize Bush. Enter “evil” Congress, although we still have no budget for 2010.
“In his rather “prickly” press conference on Wednesday, President Obama made it sound as if tax increases…”
I, ahh, see what you did there, professor… Well done, sir.
And before we start beating up on Harvard Law School too badly, let’s remember that our host is an alumni, as is Chief Justice Roberts.