Candidate’s Clandestine Economic Platform Includes Tax Hikes for Working Americans
WASHINGTON – Despite his attempts at secrecy, John Kerry has finally let the cat out of the
bag; if he is elected, middle class tax hikes are sure to follow.
Kerry has promised since early in his campaign that he will raise taxes on wealthy Americans but would spare those making less than $200,000 per year. He has declined to release fiscal policy plans until after the election, opting instead to issue only vague, expensive spending proposals. On Sunday, however, Kerry flip-flopped and told ABC’s “This Week” that he would not rule out a middle class tax increase in case of “emergency.” Kerry refused to define what he meant by “emergency,” but his expensive new spending programs are sure to require additional tax revenue.
“John Kerry has adopted the Clinton Tax Hike Model,” said Grover Norquist, President of
Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). “Kerry will promise to tax only the wealthy, hedge his bet with this “emergency” exception, and then slam working Americans with new tax hikes once elected to office.”
Democrats claim Kerry must keep his financial plans secret until after the election for valid political
reasons. In the August 2 cover of “Business Week” former Clinton administration treasury secretary Robert Rubin said, "I don\’t think you can make proposals…until you\’ve gotten elected … If you start to put out proposals now, they would be vigorously attacked…”
This strategy appears to follow the model first popularized by candidate Bill Clinton and then followed by many governors at the state level. In 2001, gubernatorial candidates Mark Warner (D-VA) and James E. McGreevey (D-NJ) ran on explicit no tax increase pledges to the voters. Once elected, they fabricated a crisis and substantially raised taxes, just as Clinton did. Kerry is following the same model.
“Kerry has learned from his Democratic governors how to avoid the tax issue in campaigns,”
continued Norquist. “Promise the raptorial spending interests hundreds of billions of dollars of new spending, make a promise not to raise taxes, and ultimately deceive voters. Once elected, however, he will kowtow to his base and deliver on the spending, all of which will be financed by higher taxes on working families.”