Read My Lips, Mr. President -- No New Taxes!

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:12:35 +0000 – By Andrea TantarosRepublican Political Commentator

In the next few days President Obama is expected to announce a plan to cut our annual federal deficit by at least half and to do it by the end of his term. He hopes to accomplish this by keeping two notorious campaign promises: pulling our troops out of Iraq and raising taxes on the wealthy. Last week Obama said we need to pour money into the economy to stimulate it. This week "only-government-Obama" is attempting to take money outof the economy. Is anyone else scratching their head over this?

As I predicted weeks ago, now that the Democrats have secured payment for socialized health care and food stamps (deceptively arguing it will stimulate the economy) it's time to tell the people who made money in this country that they need to pay for it.

Be prepared to hear Dems argue that Obama is just taking a page out of the Bill Clinton playbook. But Clinton balanced the budget because the Republican Congress passed the Balanced Budget Act, not because Bubba raised taxes. (A Republican controlled Congress passed the Act in 1997 and we had our first surplus in 1998). Not only did Clinton make his party to pay for raising tax rates (the country went into the red) the economy was already in recovery when Clinton signed the plan into law. Our current circumstances couldn't be more different.

We aren't in a crisis because of tax rates, just like we aren't facing economic turmoil because the National Mall could use some new sod. That's why raising the taxes on those who already pay the most and businesses who create jobs is the worst prescription for what ails us.

Our fragile economy is very sensitive to marginal tax rates. By hiking them, we're almost guaranteed mania in the markets. -- For some reason they don't react well when they hear that money will be taken away from them. Who does??

Until we see what Treasury Secretary Geithner has planned to address the real root of our woes, we will continue to sit and watch Obama rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. The president's latest plan won't just be taxing for businesses and anyone making money, it will likely take another toll on our markets. Last week Wall Street gave Democrats an "F." Be prepared for another failing grade.