Obama Shouldn’t Break One Promise to Fulfill Another
Advert
On ABC’S "This Week” with George Stephanopoulos, President Obama’s Senior Advisor David Axelrod declined to reiterate Obama’s campaign promise to protect American families earning under $250,000 a year from "any form of tax increase."
Axelrod made it clear that the Obama Administration was not ruling out any possible source for the capital needed to fund Obama’s healthcare reform, claiming that the Administration didn’t want to “draw lines in the sand” that might impede a successful conversation.
I very much hope that this is exactly why Axelrod wouldn’t reaffirm Obama’s earlier promise, but I can’t say I think that this is likely. Rather, I think that Obama and his advisors are realizing that the amount of money required for Obama’s health care reform, an estimated $1 trillion, isn’t exactly easy to find for new government assistance programs.
I would be highly disappointed if Obama reneges on his campaign promises to cover the already-controversial health care reform that tops off his agenda. What he should do is scale back the reform into a more manageable program that he could find the funds for without breaking promises. He has four years in office, or possibly eight if he gets reelected, so he should use his time wisely and practice one of the most essential rules of fiscal responsibility: don’t do anything you can’t afford. He has the time to increase the scale of the reform over his years in office as he finds more creative ways to raise money, and as he cuts back on current programs over the years.
There is something wrong with breaking one campaign promise just to fulfill another—especially one that could easily be scaled back and implemented over a longer time period in several stages. Such a reduction could even lead to a better program because the Administration would become more focused on the vast labyrinth of health care reforms and probably produce a better system when more time is taken to hammer out the details and to find a source of funding.
I’m still holding out hope that Obama takes the time to consider his options and doesn’t break the promise he made while campaigning that ruled out tax increases for certain income brackets.
Remember when the first president Bush said "Read my lips..." and he promised not to raise taxes? Guess what he did...he raised taxes. JFK also increased taxes. I don't believe Obama had enough information on certain conditions inside government during his campaign to fulfill all of his promises. He was fully briefed as to these conditions after he won the election. All I am saying is that sometimes the promises of a presidential candidate have to change once he (or she) makes it into the Oval Office.
There are billions of untaxed dollars floating around out there as a result of tax loopholes and out-and-out corruption. Obama has promised to crackdown on offshore banking and other tax havens -- I think that might make a big difference. As far as raising taxes, it's not pleasant, but I can't muster a lot of sympathy for the plight of the rich.
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ')group by comment_item_id order by a desc limit 10' at line 1
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ')group by comment_item_id order by a desc limit 10' at line 1
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ')group by comment_item_id order by a desc limit 10' at line 1
