Cato senior fellow Mitchell calls Obama tax ploy ‘politics of hate, envy’

Daniel J. Mitchell is a senior fellow at the CATO Institute. [Photo from CATO]CATO senior fellow Daniel J. Mitchell squared off against ‘progressive’ Christian Weller, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, on MSNBC on Friday. Weller rambled non-stop so Mitchell had to get his points in quickly. The topic—‘Obama and the Bush Tax Cuts.’

Weller of course is pro-Obama.

President Barack Obama wants to rescind tax cuts for those earning more than $250k a year. By doing that, Democrats would be enacting a tax increase but they just can’t bring themselves to call it that. Obama quite naturally said Republicans are “holding middle class tax relief hostage.”

I really hope the GOP doesn’t bite that bait.

Mitchell rightly called Obama and Weller’s hostage theory ‘specious.’ Because as we all know, Democrats took Congress in 2006 and they’ve had a supermajority for quite some time. If Dems wanted to pass a tax increase, they’ve had ample opportunity to do so. They certainly managed to cram through the ObamaCare disaster.

Mitchell pointed out the so-called Stimulus and the passage of ObamaCare will lead to higher long term deficits.

Mitchell also said Democrats are pushing class warfare.

Obama called the tax increase on high income earners, many of whom are actually small businesses, “common sense.”

Not. Here’s why.

Every single time Congress raises taxes, they spend more. What is needed in Washington is a true government reformer—government must be downsized or in the future we will face conditions similar to those in Greece and in France. And it is a no-brainer that government has not been a good steward of our tax dollars—bridges to nowhere, skateboard parks and a requirement to purchase signs touting Obama’s Recovery Act are small examples. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are taxpayer sinkholes—both these government sponsored enterprises are colossal failures.

Flatly put, the government doesn’t deserve a tax increase. We the people deserve a smaller, more efficient and less expensive government.

Mitchell said Obama is trying to gin up his base by applying the “politics of hate and envy.” Considering Weller’s non-stop jabbering, Mitchell managed to annihilate the Democrat position that the GOP is “holding middle class tax cuts hostage.”  (Commentary by Kay B. Day)