The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
Dems Embrace McCain ‘Tax Hike’
The Washington Post reports that some Democrats on Capitol Hill, including Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, are considering ending the tax exemption for employer-provided health insurance. This puts President Obama in an awkward position:
So far, administration officials have been careful not to endorse the idea, which Obama blasted as a major tax increase last year after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made it the centerpiece of his presidential campaign’s health plan. But the president hasn’t slammed the door on it, either.
This week, White House budget director Peter Orszag said taxing employer benefits was among several ideas that “most firmly should remain on the table.” White House economic adviser Jason Furman called for an end to the so-called “employer exclusion” before he joined the administration. Meanwhile, some congressional Democrats say the White House has signaled that Obama would accept a tax on employer benefits as long as he didn’t have to propose it himself.
Of course there is nothing especially surprising or unusual about this. Elected officials betray their campaign promises all the time and often embrace, or at least accede to, policies they denounced when their erstwhile opponents put them forward.
Still, it is to laugh that so many people were so gullible as to believe Obama really represented a new kind of politics.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
