Obama repeats Clintonesque tax hike

Do you remember President Clinton breaking his promise about tax cuts? And how he subsequently raised them instead? (h/t: Grek Mankiw)

Seeking to explain why he is backtracking on a campaign promise to cut taxes for the middle class, President-elect Bill Clinton said Thursday that the plan was never a major theme in his race for the White House.

Mr. Clinton, speaking at a news conference a day after saying he would have to "revisit" his tax-cut plan, said Americans voted for him because of the "big things" he wanted to do.

The middle-class tax cut, he said, was not among them.

He said he was "absolutely mystified" that the news media had perceived it as a major pledge.

Behold, The Obamessiah makes old things new again: change only Clinton could believe in. Namely, a change in President Obama's oft-repeated promise of a tax cut for 95% of workers and their families.

President Obama’s budget chief hinted Wednesday that the president’s signature campaign issue — a middle-class tax cut — will not likely survive a budget battle with Democrats on Capitol Hill.

The president stresses that despite tough times, things will improve.

On a conference call with reporters in advance of the president’s trip to the Hill to speak before the Senate Democratic caucus, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag indicated that, while 98 percent of the budget mark-ups in the House and Senate are on par with the administration’s budget blueprint, some campaign trail promises, like middle-class tax cuts, may get left on the cutting room floor.

I smell a bad cop/good cop routine here between President Obama and Congressional Democrats. And we're all about to get a pantload of more old-fashioned, big-government, tax-and-spend liberalism.

By the way, please notice that Obama's website specifies "95% of workers and their families." It does NOT specify Americans, a fact which I find troubling. We've often heard the saying "the devil is in the details." Anybody wanna bet that Obama will find a way to give a "tax cut" (read: welfare handout) to illegal immigrants while sticking it to the American citizens who foolishly believed him?

BOHICA.