Remember during the campaign last year when Barack Obama and the Democratic congressional candidates assured us that only the “wealthy” would have their taxes raised, and that not only would the middle class not be taxed more, but they’d even have their taxes cut? Well this past week, President Obama’s Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, and his National Economic Council Director, Larry Summers, finally admitted that, yes indeed, they may very well have to raise taxes on the middle class after all. There goes one more promise down the tubes.
But it’s not really surprising. Spending is completely out of control in Washington. When you add up the cost of the so-called economic stimulus package, the Pelosi/Obama budget which added at least $1.8 trillion to the deficit, pork barrel spending, cash for clunkers, and healthcare “reforms” to come, this nation is drowning in debt. The money to pay for it all has to come from somewhere, and there just aren’t enough “wealthy” people left to soak, so the target will shift to the middle class. It’s inevitable.
And in fact the Pelosi House already voted to raise taxes on every American , including the middle class, when it passed the monumentally expensive Cap and Trade (Cap and Tax) bill, which is a huge new energy tax on every American.
And don’t forget that taxes are already scheduled to go up dramatically next year when the Bush tax cuts (child credit tax cuts, marginal rates tax cuts, capital gains tax cuts, death tax tax cuts etc.) expire after their ten year run. These tax increases will affect virtually every American, not just the wealthy.
Rather than raise taxes, Congress should make these tax cuts permanent, but the Pelosi Congress believes they can spend the money better than individuals can spend their own money. And just in case you forgot, the reason the tax cuts are expiring after ten years is because there weren’t enough Republicans in the Senate to make the tax cuts permanent in the first place. Of course the Democrats in Congress say they aren’t really raising these taxes, just letting the tax cuts expire, but the effect to the tax payer is the same.
So even though members of Congress and the media are mainly focused on the healthcare debate right now, don’t lose sight of how they plan to pay for this, and all their other spending schemes – by raising taxes on everybody, including the middle class.