Obama ‘Agnostic’ on Deficit Cuts, Won’t Prejudge Tax Increases

[thundley4]

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit.
Obama, in a Feb. 9 Oval Office interview, said that a presidential commission on the budget needs to consider all options for reducing the deficit, including tax increases and cuts in spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

“The whole point of it is to make sure that all ideas are on the table,” the president said in the interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands Friday. “So what I want to do is to be completely agnostic, in terms of solutions.”
Obama repeatedly vowed during the 2008 presidential election campaign that he would not raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 and households earning less than $250,000 a year. When senior White House economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner suggested in August that the administration might be open to going back on that pledge, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs quickly reiterated the president’s promise.
In the interview, Obama said that putting preconditions on the agenda of a bipartisan advisory commission, which he said he would soon establish, would just undermine its purpose.

“What I can’t do is to set the thing up where a whole bunch of things are off the table,” Obama said. “Some would say we can’t look at entitlements. There are going to be some that say we can’t look at taxes, and pretty soon, you just can’t solve the problem.”

Bloomberg on Yahoo

Promises are meant to be broken. Does anyone remember how this worked out for George H. (read my lips) W. Bush?

[Chris_]

Translation:  He has set up yet ANOTHER "commission", that when they come in with a recomendation that violates his campaign promises, he can point and say........."I'm so sorry, but it is their fault, not mine"......

doc

[Eupher]

Translation:  He has set up yet ANOTHER "commission", that when they come in with a recomendation that violates his campaign promises, he can point and say........."I'm so sorry, but it is their fault, not mine"......

doc

Yup. It's a classic political move. Tons of presidents have done the very same thing when it came to making the tough call.

Lord Zero ain't no different. Except he ain't gonna dodge the political bullet on this one.

[BEG]

Anyone seen any comments about this over at DU?  They shit their pants when they finally figured out they would have to pay for their health insurance under Obama's plan.  They will really blow a gasket when they find out that not only the "rich" will have to pay more taxes, they will too. 

[NHSparky]

How's that hopey changey thing working now, America?

[thundley4]

Anyone seen any comments about this over at DU?  They shit their pants when they finally figured out they would have to pay for their health insurance under Obama's plan.  They will really blow a gasket when they find out that not only the "rich" will have to pay more taxes, they will too. 

I've been looking on the latest breaking, general and greatest boards but haven't seen anything , yet.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Leaving everyone thinking "I wonder WTF he meant by that???"

 

[BlueStateSaint]

How's that "hope 'n' change" working out for ya, lurking DUmb****s?


Obama ‘Agnostic’ on Deficit Cuts, Won’t Prejudge Tax Increases

February 11, 2010, 03:36 PM EST

By Rich Miller

Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit.

Obama, in a Feb. 9 Oval Office interview, said that a presidential commission on the budget needs to consider all options for reducing the deficit, including tax increases and cuts in spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

“The whole point of it is to make sure that all ideas are on the table,” the president said in the interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands Friday. “So what I want to do is to be completely agnostic, in terms of solutions.”

Obama repeatedly vowed during the 2008 presidential election campaign that he would not raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 and households earning less than $250,000 a year. When senior White House economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner suggested in August that the administration might be open to going back on that pledge, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs quickly reiterated the president’s promise.



Does anyone remember the phrase, "Read my lips--no new taxes?"  

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-02-11/obama-agnostic-on-deficit-cuts-won-t-prejudge-tax-increases.html

[NHSparky]

Leaving everyone thinking "I wonder WTF he meant by that???"

 

Not all of us are wondering.  Some of us have just nailed our wallets shut.  Who needs the OT anymore?  Not me, not when more of it goes to Unca Obammy's Hopey-Changey Club.