by Sam Minervino

When Obama was running against John McCain and had to pretend he was a centrist, he berated McCain for proposing a tax on employee health benefits. Of course he twisted the reality of what McCain wanted to do but never the less, Obama said it would be "the largest middle-class tax increase in history”. Employee health benefits are not subject to tax and close to 140,000,000 Americans receive health insurance from their employers. Now the president wants to propose a tax on these health benefits, to be deducted right from the employee’s pay check. This means that if a person making $30,000.00 a year also receives $10,000.00 in health insurance from their employer, they will have to pay federal income tax on $40,000.00 each year. The income bracket of the employee will also move up and therefore the possibility of paying a higher tax rate is very real.

Obama is trying to play both sides again when a White House adviser said, “while the president will not propose changing the tax-free status of employee health benefits himself, neither would he oppose it if Congress does so.” Meanwhile, UPI.com reports that “White House Budget Director Peter Orszag indicated at a recent congressional hearing that taxing health benefits "most firmly should remain on the table". So Obama won’t propose the tax, Obama won’t object to it coming from congress and HIS White House Budget Director wants it left on the table.

So let’s clarify the president’s positions on "the largest middle-class tax increase in history”:

Against the tax while a candidate...

For the tax if it comes from congress...

Neutral on the tax but HIS White House Budget Director is for it...

Plausible deniability and constant campaign mode is all we have gotten from this guy. Are you sick of him yet? No wonder his poll numbers are falling.