Morning Bell: Holding Economic Recovery Hostage

Conn Carroll / September 13, 2010

Last August, NBC News’ Chuck Todd posed a question to President Barack Obama from Elkhart, Indiana, resident Scott Ferguson: “Explain how raising taxes on anyone during a deep recession is going to help with the economy.” The President responded: “We have not proposed a tax hike for the wealthy that would take effect during a recession. … He’s absolutely right, the last thing you want to do is raise taxes in the middle of a recession because that would just suck up, take more demand out of the economy and put businesses in a further hole.”

Fast forward to yesterday on NBC’s Meet the Press where — after host David Gregory asked, “When does the economic team think that Obama administration economic policies will have a sizable impact on the unemployment rate in this country?” — White House senior adviser David Axelrod admitted: “It took 10 years to create that problem … It’s going to take — nearly 10 years — it’s going to take some time … It’s going to take some time to fix it.” Meanwhile over at Fox News Sunday, newly minted Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee was admitting to host Chris Wallace: “I think it’s clear that the labor market is significantly weakened, has been for some time. We have to do everything we can to try to create jobs and get people back to work. … I don’t think the unemployment rate will be coming down significantly anytime in the near future.”

So if the labor market has “significantly weakened” as Goolsbee admits, and “it’s going to take nearly 10 years” before Obama’s policies “will have a sizable impact on the unemployment rate,” then why are the White House and the leftist majorities in the House and Senate pushing for massive tax hikes on those Americans and small businesses that make more than $200,000 a year? Politics. (more…)