It promises to be the most anemic recovery in memory, but there are signs here and there that the U.S. economy is regaining its health. Nobody is likely happier about that than President Obama, who wants another four years in the White House. That probably won’t happen, however, if the economy is still sluggish come November. Thus we note with curiosity that, while speaking Tuesday for extending the Social Security payroll tax cut, Obama said “the last thing we need is for Washington to stand in the way of America’s comeback … First and foremost, that means Washington shouldn’t hike taxes on working Americans right now.” Indeed, the White House web site’s most prominent feature Tuesday gave multiple examples of the good things that happen when people get to keep $40 a week more of their earnings instead of sending it to Washington in the form of payroll taxes.
We call this curious because the Obama who says “Washington shouldn’t hike taxes on working Americans right now” is the same Obama who just sent to Congress a proposed 2013 federal budget that … raises taxes, massively, on millions of other working Americans:
