Obama Lies, Taxes Rise

Last night during an interview for 60 Minutes, President Obama made the false declaration that “I haven’t raised taxes.”  But recent news coming out of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) begs to differ, and a majority of proof that the President’s statement is patently false comes from his signature legislation – Obamacare.

During his interview, Obama blamed rhetoric and lies for the notion that he has raised taxes.

“Well, it’s a lot of rhetoric, but there aren’t a lot of facts supporting it. Taxes are lower on families than they’ve been probably in the last 50 years. So I haven’t raised taxes.  I’ve cut taxes for middle class families by an average of $3,600 per typical family.”

Here’s what the facts do support, however.

A recent analysis from the CBO states that Obamacare will raise taxes on 6 million Americans.  Those individuals will be subject to a tax penalty for failing to purchase health care once the new law is in effect.  An excerpt from the report reads:

“… CBO and JCT now estimate that about 6 million people will pay a penalty because they are uninsured in 2016 (a figure that includes uninsured dependents who have the penalty paid on their behalf ) and that total collections will be about $7 billion in 2016 and average about $8 billion per year over the 2017–2022 period.”

An Associated Press report explains that a majority of those 6 million people – 80% – reside in the middle class.

“… in his first campaign for the White House, Obama pledged not to raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year and couples making less than $250,000. And the budget office analysis found that nearly 80 percent of those who’ll face the penalty would be making up to or less than five times the federal poverty level.”

Worse, in 2016, 4.7 million Americans living in families that earn less than $123,000 annually will be subjected to the individual mandate tax within Obamacare.

It isn’t just the middle class that will suffer under the weight of Obama’s new taxes.  Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform says that low-income families will also be adversely affected.

Eight tax increases in the health care law “directly hit low-income people,” Norquist said … “The president didn’t keep his word when he said he wouldn’t raise taxes on people earning less than $200,000 a year.”

Other examples of tax increases lying within Obamacare (though not specific to middle income families) include a 10% tax on the use of indoor tanning services, and an additional Medicare tax of 0.9% on higher income earners.

Further, the President signed a bill in 2009 that raised the federal excise tax on all tobacco products – an attempt to raise revenue for his anticipated expansion of health insurance.

Only a man of questionable character can state without reservation that he has not raised taxes, while simultaneously knowing he is the source of legislation that has resulted in numerous tax increases, passing a bill that Forbes Magazine has labeled “the largest tax increase in U.S. history.”