Posted by Jed Lewison on Tue Dec 9, 2008 at 2:07 AM Pacific
Really?
Politico's Politico's Carol E. Lee and Nia-Malika Henderson make the following claim:
Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for the wealthy
I'd like to see evidence of him making such a pledge, because I haven't found it. The closest that I've seen is this op-ed by Jason Furman and Austan Goolsbee, but it doesn't say anything about 'immediate' repeal.
If I recall correctly, since early 2007 Obama has supported repealing the tax cuts by allowing them to expire. A review of 11 New York Times articles ranging from April 21, 2007 to October 19, 2008 support my recollection, but perhaps there's something I'm missing.
If so, I'd love to have someone explain it to me. Otherwise, it's time to stop pushing this narrative.
Here's the list of articles:
Senator Barack Obama (Ill.): let cuts expire for households earning more than $250,000.
Mr. Obama would pay for his plan by not renewing President Bush's tax cuts for the most affluent Americans -- those making more than $250,000 a year -- when they expire at the end of 2010, aides said.
The leading Democratic contenders have all suggested they would roll back Mr. Bush's cuts for households with incomes above about $200,000 a year -- roughly, the top 2 percent of earners. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama would let these cuts to expire at the end of 2010. John Edwards would try to abolish the cuts immediately.
To restore what he considers the right balance, Mr. Edwards would go further than either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama on several economic issues. Mr. Edwards would try to repeal the Bush tax cuts for everyone making at least $200,000 -- not $250,000 -- and he would do so as soon as he took office, not waiting until they expire in 2011.
Like Mr. Obama, she would pay for her plan primarily by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for the wealthiest Americans.
Both Senators Clinton and Obama would allow the Bush administration's personal income tax cuts to expire in 2011 and are proposing new levies on wealthy individuals, oil companies and other businesses to help pay for expansive and expensive new government programs.
The Democratic candidates have suggested that they could finance these and other programs by allowing parts of the Bush tax cuts to expire.
Mr. Obama has said in the past that he would allow the tax cuts enacted in the Bush administration to expire and impose higher taxes on some investment income.
Mr. Obama's plan would raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 by allowing Mr. Bush's tax cuts on top earners to expire, and he has signaled that he would consider increasing the current cap on income subject to the Social Security payroll tax.
But Martin Feldstein, a deficit hawk who was President Ronald Reagan's chief economic adviser and now advises Mr. McCain, said Monday that ''Obama's plan will slow the economy, will depress the economy'' because he wants to let the Bush administration's tax cuts expire. Those cuts have primarily benefited the wealthiest segment of the population.
For several days, Mr. McCain has been trying to paint Mr. Obama as something of a socialist, largely because of his plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire for people making more than $250,000 and to give tax cuts to people making less than that.
© Jed Lewison