Optimistic to the Point of Foolishness

Axelrod waffles on Obama no-middle-class-tax-hike vow - POLITICO Live - POLITICO.com

This isn’t just yet another promise that’s likely to be broken … it’s much worse.  During the campaign, Obama attacked McCain mercilessly for proposing essentially the same thing:

[Obama] devoted at least half his speech to criticizing McCain. The Republican nominee has proposed to tax the health benefits that 156 million people get through the workplace as income. In exchange, McCain would give tax credits to help pay for insurance — $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families, paid directly to the insurer they choose.

The criticisms that Obama made here are echoed by his campaign in four new television ads, four separate mailers targeted to swing state voters, radio commercials and events in every battleground state.

“On health care, John McCain promises a tax credit,” an announcer says in one of Obama’s new ads, over images of families examining their bills. “But here’s what he won’t tell you: McCain would make you pay taxes on your health benefits, taxing your health care for the first time ever, raising costs for employers who offer health care so your coverage could be reduced or dropped completely. You won’t find one word about it on his website.”

“The time has come,” Obama said, “to solve this problem, to cut health care costs for families and businesses, and provide affordable, accessible health insurance for every American.”

It’s true that McCain doesn’t mention that he would tax health benefits on the section of his website where he describes his plan. But the Obama ad omits some important context — the tax credit McCain plans to offer would be more generous than the current tax break, at least for most families for the first several years, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center.

What’s amazing about this is that McCain was at least going to give you a tax credit to purchase your own health insurance.  So what Obama is proposing is far more punitive towards the middle class.

When Obama attacked McCain, he knew it was a dishonest attack.  He knew that economists were supportive of the idea of taxing insurance benefits in order to sever the employment/insurance connection.  He even knew, I suspect, that he would likely have to consider doing the same thing.  But instead of having an open and honest debate, he demagogued the issue.

The standard line on the left these days is something like, “Duh, of course he lied during the campaign.  He’s a politician.  That’s what you have to do.  We’re just playing the game Rove started.”  Baloney.  Your guy was supposed to be better than that.  And he’s not.  Maybe he’s worse.

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