The White House insisted Monday that President Obama’s campaign
pledge to avoid new taxes on those earning less than $250,000 a
year holds firm, even after two top economic advisers warned over
the weekend that tax hikes for middle-income Americans could not be
ruled out.
By Mark Silva, Tribune News Service
WASHINGTON
The White House insisted Monday that President Obama’s campaign pledge to avoid new taxes on those earning less than $250,000 a year holds firm, even after two top economic advisers warned over the weekend that tax hikes for middle-income Americans could not be ruled out.
“The president made a commitment in the campaign. He’s clear about that commitment, and he’s going to keep it,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. “I don’t know much more clear about the commitment I can be.”
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and chief economic adviser Lawrence Summers had suggested during appearances on the Sunday morning news talk shows that tax increases could not be ruled out for Americans earning less than the threshold that the president has set.
But Gibbs adamantly and repeatedly insisted Monday that the president remains committed to his pledge.
“The president’s clear commitment is not to raise taxes on those making less than $250,000 a year,” Gibbs told reporters pressing for an explanation about apparent discrepancies in the White House’s message.
“I hope you’ll take my reiteration of this clear commitment … in the clearest terms possible, that he is not raising taxes on those who make less than $250,000 a year,” Gibbs said.
Geithner, during an interview aired by ABC News’ “This Week,” said that bringing the federal deficit under control remains a high priority. The annual budget deficit is projected to reach a record $1.8 trillion this year, and Obama has pledged to cut it in half by the end of his term.
Obama has said the health care legislation he is seeking will help rein in federal spending on health care through Medicare and other programs.
Geithner maintained that overhauling health care alone won’t bring the deficit under control, and he left open the possibility that additional tax revenue may needed.
“We can’t make these judgments yet about what exactly it’s going to take and how we’re going to get there,” Geithner said in the interview. “If we want an economy that is going to grow in the future, people have to understand that we have to bring those deficits down.”
Summers, director of the president’s National Economic Council, was asked on a different news program about the treasury secretary’s remarks. “Was (Geithner) laying the groundwork here for a new round of taxes?” asked Bob Schieffer on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
No, Summers replied.
No tax increases for “middle-income Americans?” Schieffer pressed.
“Oh, there’s a lot that could happen over time . … It’s never a good idea to absolutely rule things, rule things out no matter what,” Summers said.
Gibbs, asked at the White House on Monday why the president’s advisers had not stated the commitment to averting new taxes for the middle class as adamantly as the White House was asserting it, said drily: “They left it to me.”
The chief White House spokesman also was asked if other administration officials will be “on message” from now on.
“Promising that everybody is going to be on message may be a bar that is too high for me to leap over,” Gibbs said with a smile.
