Video: Obama officially retreats on zero tax increases for middle class
posted at 12:57 pm on July 23, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Most of the media’s focus from last night’s press conference has been directed towards Barack Obama’s response to Lynn Sweet’s question about Henry Gates’ arrest, but they missed a key exchange — and a major walkback on tax policy for Barack Obama. Obama has insisted that middle-class Americans would not see “any form of tax increase, not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes,” both during the campaign and while in office. David Axelrod started backing away from that pledge last month, when CBO scoring on ObamaCare turned really ugly, but until last night Obama had not retreated in the least. Buried in the interminable answer given to Ben Feller of the AP on how Obama planned to pay for health-care reform was this nugget, which I’ve paired with Obama’s pledge from a year ago:
The one commitment that I’ve been clear about is I don’t want that final one-third of the cost of health care to be completely shouldered on the backs of middle class families who are already struggling in a difficult economy.
And so, if I see a proposal that is primarily funded through taxing middle class families, I’m going to be opposed to that because I think there are better ideas to do it.
I’ve bolded the weasel words. This represents a major shift in Obama’s tax positions. No longer will middle-class families see their taxes “actually decrease,” as Obama pledged in the campaign. Now, he will be fine with raising their taxes to pay for his massive socialization of health care, as long as he can say that the taxes won’t “primarily” come from the middle class. He doesn’t want the burden “completely shouldered” by the middle class, but that leaves a lot of room as to how much they will pay in higher taxes and fees for it. Finally, Obama says he would “be opposed” to such an approach, but never says that he would veto it if it hit his desk.
We knew this expiration date was coming. The question will be whether the press will report it.
Blowback
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Crap weasel
skree on July 23, 2009 at 12:59 PM
zzzzzzzzzz
moonbatkiller on July 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Gosh, I never saw that coming.
Daggett on July 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Geraghty’s Axiom ftw.
Abby Adams on July 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Just words.
mankai on July 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM
‘not one single dime!’…..riiiiiight
cmsinaz on July 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM
The press loves taxes so why would they report on it.
They won’t report that Obama commented on a case where he admitted he didn’t know ALL THE FACTS.
We already know he doesn’t KNOW what’ in the health care bill…
originalpechanga on July 23, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Yeah, but Dear Leader won’t raise middle class taxes as much as He would want to, so it’s like a tax cut!
Remember, Dems scream about budget cuts if you only increase spending by 3-4% as opposed to a normal 6-7%.
rbj on July 23, 2009 at 1:01 PM
C’mon Ed–let up on the guy a bit would ya… He’s just trying to get everyone to pay their “fair share” and give them the “opportunity” to “spread the wealth around.” He thinks that’d be good for all Americans–now apparently the middle class included.
He really doesn’t want them spending that money on unhealthy things anymore anyway.
ted c on July 23, 2009 at 1:02 PM
“Abby Adams on July 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM”
HEH — we need to enshrine it as such — “Geraghty’s Axiom”
:-)
Buckaroo on July 23, 2009 at 1:03 PM
Somebody needs to ask Gibbs what Obama really means here…
Jake?
BobMbx on July 23, 2009 at 1:03 PM
Are we truly surprised that a liberal lies in regard to tax increases? Does a bear sh!t in the woods?
Yes.He.Does.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 23, 2009 at 1:03 PM
I’m thinking that “created or saved” can be worked into this somehow….
JamesLee on July 23, 2009 at 1:03 PM
Then the next president comes a long and increaes taxes more to cover the increased costs in the medical insurance plan.
Hmmmm, I feel like we have been down this road before.
Oil Can on July 23, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Finally getting the middle class to be patriotic.
lorien1973 on July 23, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Read my lips…
TinMan13 on July 23, 2009 at 1:04 PM
pay more for worse care and doctor shortages, sounds great!
rob verdi on July 23, 2009 at 1:05 PM
The press would have had to have been listening to what he said for them to report on this.
The press is there to ask questions, and to get “air”…they could care less what the president says, it doesn’t matter.
right2bright on July 23, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Taxing the middle class even one percent will assure that this crap sandwich is defeated.
farright on July 23, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Read my lips.
Fletch54 on July 23, 2009 at 1:06 PM
if anyone sees NaCly Dog.. have him email me please: helpingpalin@gmail.com
upinak on July 23, 2009 at 1:06 PM
Wonder how Gibby will walk that one back.
aop on July 23, 2009 at 1:07 PM
How ’bout a large surtax on the income on wealthy politicians?
The way I calculate it, at a 110% tax rate, Obama owes US for putting up with him and for being part of the problem, not the solution.
NoDonkey on July 23, 2009 at 1:07 PM
Good catch Ed, this guy is sneaky, yes weasely as you note.
The stock market is reacting like this social medicine bs is going away. Pray!
FireBlogger on July 23, 2009 at 1:07 PM
But, but it’s only fair that everybody pay for what I want.
HoustonRight on July 23, 2009 at 1:07 PM
What part of PATHOLOGICAL LIAR do people don’t understand?
marklmail on July 23, 2009 at 1:08 PM
‘I’ll have to check on that and get back to you’……/sarc
cmsinaz on July 23, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Can obama please demonstrate the quality aspect of the “end of life” section of his new bill on HIMSELF and/or his wife during the next presser? Man the ratings would be through the roof!!
Ris4victory on July 23, 2009 at 1:08 PM
it’s about the middle class start showing oboobi the middle finger.
SHARPTOOTH on July 23, 2009 at 1:08 PM
He inherited the tax rates. It’s Bush’s fault.
Beaglemom on July 23, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Wait, Obama is going to raise taxes on the middle class? I’m shocked!
All my liberals friends had me convinced he was going to pay for all these trillions of dollars in new spending by harvesting our bumper unicorn crop.
18-1 on July 23, 2009 at 1:09 PM
It’s time to be patriotic, Ed.
BPD on July 23, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Won’t be doctor shortages under ObamaCare. They will be importing doctors from India and China like mad.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 23, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Oh, and on a more serious note this is EXACTLY what Bill Clinton did.
Campaign on tax cuts. Win election. Raise taxes.
How can people be so ignorant of extremely recent history?!?
18-1 on July 23, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Right after the election, I started cutting back on spending and treating my paychecks and investment decisions as if Obama were going to let his tax proclimation expire.
I just don’t know if I have prepared myself enough for how costly it will end up being.
myrenovations on July 23, 2009 at 1:11 PM
To be fair, he did state that his plan wouldn’t raise our taxes.
Given that he’s now addressing a health care plan that’s been doctored up plenty of times, and which, of course, he hasn’t read, he is technically sticking to his word.
Of course, this means that instead of f***ing the middle class, he’s merely slapping them in the face with his d***.
MadisonConservative on July 23, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Obama: ” We saved the economy in such a big way that as a bonus we need to raise your taxes.”
Get this Administration out of Washington….pronto!
SmallGovtGuy on July 23, 2009 at 1:12 PM
Once a lying sack, always a lying sack…..
HornetSting on July 23, 2009 at 1:12 PM
But my lemming friends said he wouldn’t do that to us!
SouthernGent on July 23, 2009 at 1:12 PM
Unicorn blood makes you immortal; thus, money will be saved with Obama’s Unicorns.
WashJeff on July 23, 2009 at 1:12 PM
Axelrod said the president has no interest in “drawing lines in the sand” on the issue of how to pay for the costly health reform plan making its way through Congress.
Pirates and Brigands in the Oval Office
maverick muse on July 23, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Gibbs gaggled aboard Air Force One — here’s what you need to know:
- Obama doesn’t regret his comments about the botched arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., Gibbs said. But the press secretary parsed/spun Obama’s words carefully, insisting the president did not call the police stupid and saying the situation in Cambridge got “out of hand” due to bad behavior on “both sides” of the incident. UPDATE — FULL QUOTE: “Let me be clear. He was not calling the officer stupid, okay? He was denoting that . . . at a certain point the situation got far out of hand, and I think all sides understand that.”
ICBM on July 23, 2009 at 1:13 PM
I bet a lot of them are in our medical schools now….
cmsinaz on July 23, 2009 at 1:13 PM
“Won’t allow it to be primarily funded by the middle class”…
meaning that only 49.9% of the scheme will be payed for by the middle class.
Bishop on July 23, 2009 at 1:14 PM
The silence of the trolls is deafening.
Knucklehead on July 23, 2009 at 1:14 PM
Today’s society:
extremely recent history -> 3 days
recent history => one week
ancient history => before he\she was born
WashJeff on July 23, 2009 at 1:15 PM
TOTUS
maverick muse on July 23, 2009 at 1:16 PM
I could see him trying to get cute with technicalities. Kinda like how crap-and-betrayed isn’t a “tax” in the strictest sense of the word, but for all intents and purposes it costs every American more of their paycheck.
But he’s gonna destroyed in 2012 if he actually expects middle class voters to buy into that line.
Doughboy on July 23, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Gibbs:Spin Doctor
what a putz!
cmsinaz on July 23, 2009 at 1:16 PM
And what percent of the tax burden was the middle class paying under Bush?
Hey America, thanks for voting in Obama.
MadisonConservative on July 23, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Somebody needs to poke a stick under bridge….I’m starting to worry.
HornetSting on July 23, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Aren’t you the optimist.
I figure he will redefine middle class to make sure he “keeps” the promise.
As I told you, my plan does not raise taxes on anyone making less then 30K a year. The naysayers are lying when they say this is a tax increase on the middle class –Barack Hussein Obama circa 2010
18-1 on July 23, 2009 at 1:17 PM
By the time this thing gets enacted a foreign dr.’s reponse will be:
Me no come. Your dollar sh!!ty!
HoustonRight on July 23, 2009 at 1:17 PM
His Bush 41 moment. Hopefully he will be a one termer too.
c.u.shoeless on July 23, 2009 at 1:17 PM
Possibly. What I meant was that there will be a market to bring foreign born/trained doctors to this country if ObamaCare passes. Better hope you don’t get a broken reg.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 23, 2009 at 1:17 PM
Who can I say “I told you so” to on this sight?
Frances on July 23, 2009 at 1:17 PM
American Workers pay attention when they are layed off and when they bring home less money because of taxes. He will not be able to spin that.
kingsjester on July 23, 2009 at 1:18 PM
Waterloo
pseudonominus on July 23, 2009 at 1:18 PM
“Buck Up”–Weaselly Wabbit
maverick muse on July 23, 2009 at 1:18 PM
I thought it was all going to be free, everything is supposed to be free. Now I get it, we will be free of all our income.
fourdeucer on July 23, 2009 at 1:18 PM
Yeah, but they will have slightly more freedom here than in their home countries. I stress slightly more freedom after what Obama is doing to this country.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on July 23, 2009 at 1:18 PM
Obama’s plans need to fail. If he’s broken in the process so much the better. After six months I’ve taken all I can of this arrogant filthy liar and all the truly evil people ruining this nation.
highhopes on July 23, 2009 at 1:19 PM
Oh my, is that the same Gibb’s who told me I didn’t see Obama bowing to the Saudi King?
**face palm**
Knucklehead on July 23, 2009 at 1:19 PM
Call, call, and then call again your congress criters. Ask them why we should believe them after the fiasco of the spendulus. Ask them if they are going to READ the bill. Let them know we are watching.
Write letters to the editor. Ask why we should believe the obumbler and democrats in congress that the speed of the bill is required. Ask why they do not read the bills they vote for.
This is what scares them more than the ballerina or the botoxed one.
jukin on July 23, 2009 at 1:19 PM
FIFY
atheling on July 23, 2009 at 1:19 PM
agree
cmsinaz on July 23, 2009 at 1:19 PM
He looks tired.
29Victor on July 23, 2009 at 1:22 PM
Let me put on my tin foil hat and suggest that the last question being about a race incident immediately takes the spotlight off of the healthcare boondoggle, and any choice boondoggle obama-isms, and puts the spotlight on an issue that does not threaten to damage him in the least. Now that the press conference is over, all the public hears about the massive socialism and Soviet style medicalcare coming is that obama thought a police officer was a racist.
Well played, media.
keep the change on July 23, 2009 at 1:22 PM
Maybe all of our Trolls are in hiding because they can’t blame everything on Boooosh anymore. barry and Congress own this whole fiasco.
kingsjester on July 23, 2009 at 1:22 PM
Actually, the state media right now is providing an interesting experiment in this regard.
We are on the verge of a depression, and you really wouldn’t know it if you only got your information from the state media. With countless stories on FUNployment and how awesome Obama’s abs are, there isn’t much of the doom and gloom we saw from the media during the boom years of 2002-6.
Will people notice the difference? The 2010 election results should go a long way in providing an answer.
However, the fact that the Democrats successfully ran against the Congress they controlled in 2008 tends to make me pessimistic.
18-1 on July 23, 2009 at 1:23 PM
That pledge was violated a mere two weeks after Obama took office. The overwhelming majority of the $33 billion they hope to raise by the more than doubling of a tax will come from those making less than $250 K.
The expiration date on that promise was 2/4/09.
Pablo on July 23, 2009 at 1:24 PM
You’re confusing late 60′s Yankees catchers with failed WH press secretaries.
sibobr on July 23, 2009 at 1:24 PM
Harry Reid just said no Healthcare vote until September, according to Fox News.
kingsjester on July 23, 2009 at 1:25 PM
Anything time Obama starts with “I’ve been clear about…” get your hip waders and goggles on because the bullsh!t is going to start flying….
Caper29 on July 23, 2009 at 1:27 PM
Glad you speak Klingon, Ed.
ProudPalinFan on July 23, 2009 at 1:27 PM
er uh what I have always said and let me be clear is that uh you will not be taxed a dime more than I think you should be to do the things for you I think should be uh done in your name….
next question?
//Ogabe
sven10077 on July 23, 2009 at 1:27 PM
They’re not “taxes”, they’re “premiums”. Prepare for even more “premiums” in the coming days.
Master Shake on July 23, 2009 at 1:28 PM
Dr. Palin please perform an Obama-ectomy on this patient, it will save trillions.
farright on July 23, 2009 at 1:31 PM
Good to see Obama finally standing up to Big Middle Class.
LibTired on July 23, 2009 at 1:31 PM
He is looking less like Napolean and more like Louis XVI
CMonster on July 23, 2009 at 1:34 PM
That’s a good point. His plan won’t raise our taxes because he hasn’t offered a plan. All a part of his “someone else did it” philosophy. Health Care tanks? It wasn’t *his* health care plan that tanked!
Tonus on July 23, 2009 at 1:34 PM
I’m starting to suspect that The One shouldn’t always be trusted to tell truth…
Cicero43 on July 23, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Keep your tonsils. Hand over your wallet.
Cicero43 on July 23, 2009 at 1:38 PM
Doesn’t the health care package contain an 8% tax on smaller businesses? Where does Obama think that money is going to come from? Out of the pockets of the employees, of course.
grahampowell on July 23, 2009 at 1:39 PM
Saw Night At The Museum part 2. When Lincoln rose from that chair, I wanted so bad to make him walk to the WH and “manhandle” Obama, while reciting his most popular quotes.
Just like a tour on a museum and there’s a recreation of the WH’s office. It’s just sickening!
ProudPalinFan on July 23, 2009 at 1:40 PM
ROCnPhilly on July 23, 2009 at 1:51 PM
“The one commitment that I’ve been clear about is…”
That seems to me an odd statement from a man who starts half os his statements with, “let me be perfectly clear”. Precisely how many coommitments has he made that he admits that he wasn’t?
Just askin…
Archimedes on July 23, 2009 at 1:51 PM
Ebony & Ivory work together in perfect harmony….
portlandon on July 23, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Another thing on this “primarily” notion relates to an interview I saw today of that tool Bill Burton–I think he’s Gibbs’s right-hand man. In discussing Obama’s amenability to terminating the exclusion for employer-provided healthcare coverage, Burton said Obama might consider that but he’s reluctant to overturn the exclusion for existing contractual arrangements. In other words, it’s weasel wording for “unions will get an exception by hell yeah, terminate the exclusion.”
Personally, the exclusion seems to distort the market for insurance. I think McCain’s idea (now Wyden’s idea) of ending the exclusion, but giving a tax credit of some amount to offset the eliminated exclusion is a way to put the buying power into the hands of the consumers.
At any rate, watch for that. It’ll be his way of preserving his promise to at least some of the middle class.
BuckeyeSam on July 23, 2009 at 1:54 PM
Ahhhh yes, the return of the WORM!
What. Obama. Really. Meant.
Archimedes on July 23, 2009 at 1:55 PM
I don’t know, I think you guys are treading on shaky ground here. Much as I may dislike the man, Obama tends to be more careful than most with his words (especially when it comes to prepared remarks). So, while he said he didn’t want to go down a road that was primarily funded by the middle class, he didn’t necessarily say he’d sign on to a plan that was shouldered by them even a little bit. Mind you, I think we’ll see a tax increase there (even if he shifts the definition first to cover himself), but I’d be hard-pressed to call this an “official retreat.”
Heresy of Cain on July 23, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Gee, another one bites the dust. I am shocked.
InTheBellyoftheBeast on July 23, 2009 at 2:06 PM
Slimy as a hagfish.
riverrat10k on July 23, 2009 at 2:12 PM
Jake Tapper is known to prowl here…
BobMbx on July 23, 2009 at 2:15 PM
Who cares if it’s reported, people will know soon enough.
John_Locke on July 23, 2009 at 2:26 PM
Obama’s “Read my lips, no new taxes” statement. We always knew better, of course. May he be regularly roasted for breaking his pledge.
tom on July 23, 2009 at 2:35 PM
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