Okie Pundit

Obama made many pledges on the campaign trail in 2008 and in the beginning stages of his presidency.  These included prohibiting lobbyists from serving in his administration, enacting a net spending cut, closing Guantanamo Bay by January 2010, and open and transparent health care negotiations.  All of those pledges have been violated.  And now we can add another one to the list: Obama’s famous pledge to ensure the middle class will not see a tax increase during his administration.

Reuters explores a slew of upcoming tax increases set to hit America’s middle class and hit them hard.  These so-called Backdoor tax increases include a jump in the personal income tax rate, an increase in the tax on dividends and capital gains, and the elimination of several tax credits and deductions lower income American can take advantage of.

With the economy showing signs of a nascent recovery, these tax increases have the potential to send us right back into a recession by killing jobs and investment in the economy.  As has been noted many times on this site, Obama promised us an unemployment ceiling of 8% if Congress passed his Stimulus package.  It’s now at 10% and shows no signs of abating.  The budget deficit has skyrocketed and the national debt has increased to an all time high.  Obama can break all the promises he wants, but if he expects Americans to trust him, he’ll have to keep at least one of his major pledges to the voters that helped elect him.