White House Plays Down Tax-Raising Talk
"Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase," he said. "Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."
He repeated it countless times, both as candidate and president.
That's why it was so stunning – and created such a furor on cable and in the blogosphere -- when BOTH Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner AND Larry Summers, top economic advisor in the White House, seemed to fudge on the issue on Sunday's talk shows.
Here's a key part of the exchange between Bob Schieffer and Larry Summers on CBS' "Face the Nation":
SCHIEFFER: No tax increases for middle-income Americans?SUMMERS:...There is a lot, though, there is a lot that can happen over time. But the priority right now, so it is never a good idea to absolutely rule things -- rule things out no matter what. But what the president has been completely clear on is that he is not going to pursue any of his priorities -- not health care, not energy, nothing -- in ways that are primarily burdening middle-class families. That is something that is not going to happen.
Wait a minute: "PRIMARILY" burdening middle-class families? I thought it was NO tax hikes for middle-class families.
And it's never a good idea to absolutely rule things out? Isn't that what the president has done again and again and again on middle-class tax hikes?
Geithner was equally evasive on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
So were they intentionally opening the door just a tiny bit? Did the president approve this? Is it the beginning of reversing the president's middle-class tax promise, which was a foundation stone of his campaign?
Today White House press secretary Robert Gibbs tried to lay the issue to rest.
Facing a barrage of questions at the daily briefing, Gibbs said the president "has made a very clear commitment to not raise taxes on the middle class." Does that mean he's standing by his promise NOT to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000? Gibbs answered yes to numerous versions of the question.
Then why didn't Geithner and Summers say that yesterday, CBS News's Mark Knoller asked. "They left it to me," Gibbs told us.
Gibbs said the president reiterated his position – that he won't raise taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year – in the today's Daily Economic Briefing, with Geithner and Summers in attendance. Gibbs denied that the comments represented a "woodshed" event.
Case closed? It appears so for now. But the next time anyone in the administration says anything that can be remotely interpreted to suggest they're backing away from that promise, you can bet the press corps, the blogs, cable TV, and a big chunk of the American people will pounce.
