History repeating itself in the White House
When George Bush Sr. ran for office before the ’90s, he ran on a platform of no new taxes, which is what Republicans far and wide believe in. Unfortunately, with the government sliding into recession and facing increasing financial strain and difficulty, Bush Sr. couldn’t stand by those promises and had to increase revenue by any means, which lead to a tax increase. Democrats believed Bush had just chummed the water and the Republican Party was floating in the middle of circling sharks. It was just a matter of time.
So Clinton won the election (with the help of Ross Perot taking a decent chunk of Republican votes) and Bush was taken out of office.
The tables may have turned, with the Democrats on the receiving end.
Obama pledged during his campaign a lot of things, many of which probably won’t happen now that he understands what all it takes to govern a nation. It’s also another beast entirely to try and be the figurehead standing before millions of people who don’t care about the good of the nation and want to know specifically what it is the president can do for them. Knowing this, Obama pledged no new taxes on the middle class. It was a campaign keystone for Obama.
Yet our good friend Timothy Geithner has said that the promise might not stand the test of time.
If Obama can’t keep that promise and keep middle class taxes off the legislative docket, a world of hurt may be ready to bear down upon the Democratic Party.
It has not been a good year for them. Having a super majority in Congress has done virtually nothing to push through any legislation, giving the image of incompetence and removing much of the credibility Obama’s charisma pumped into his lofty promises before election.
Rob @ August 4, 2009