Despite previous assurances from his Press Secretary and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, President Obama refused to explicitly rule out a Value-Added Tax in an interview yesterday:
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama suggested Wednesday that a new value-added tax on Americans is still on the table, seeming to show more openness to the idea than his aides have expressed in recent days.
Before deciding what revenue options are best for dealing with the deficit and the economy, Obama said in an interview with CNBC, “I want to get a better picture of what our options are.”
(…)
“I think I directly answered this the other day by saying that it wasn’t something that the president had under consideration,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters shortly before Obama spoke with CNBC.
After the interview, White House deputy communications director Jen Psaki said nothing has changed and the White House is “not considering” a VAT.
Not considering, but not ruling it out either.
Here’s the video:
Here’s my guess.
When the President’s Debt Commission comes out with it’s report in November, conveniently after the elections, a Value-Added Tax will be one of it’s recommendations. Then, we’ll see the White House line shift.
Of course, it’s hard to see how Obama is going to reconcile pushing for a VAT with this:
“If you are a family making less than $ 250,000 a year……you will not see your taxes go up. Not your Capital Gains Tax, not your Payroll Tax, not your Income Tax, no taxes. Your Taxes will not go up.”
