In Case You Missed It: Obama Will Tax & Spend Despite His Promises

Bill Bolling
Op-Ed
Richmond Times-Dispatch
July 14, 2008

Barack Obama's campaign has asked voters to ignore their candidate's brief and inconsistent record and listen instead to the "value" in his words. ...

[O]ne thing remains clear, under an Obama presidency hard-working Americans and small business owners will see their taxes rise, job creation and exports suffer, and government spending skyrocket when they can least afford it.

During the Democratic primary Obama pledged not to raise taxes on the middle class, saying, "I not only have pledged not to raise their taxes, I've been the first candidate in this race to specifically say I would cut their taxes."

BUT OBAMA'S voting record this year shows that when it was time for action, he broke his word. Obama voted twice in favor of the Democrats' fiscal 2009 budget resolution that would raise taxes on individuals earning as little as $31,850. In addition, a review of his record indicates that he has voted at least 94 times for higher taxes while in the U.S. Senate -- amounting to a vote for a tax increase once every five days that Congress has been in session. ...

[I]n May, a Wall Street Journal Asia editorial cast Obama as "the most protectionist U.S. presidential candidate in decades," reflecting his then-opposition to NAFTA, CAFTA, the South Korea and Colombia free-trade agreements, and normal trade relations with China.

But now, Obama says he believes in free trade and has recoiled from his pledge to reopen NAFTA, admitting his primary rhetoric was "overheated and amplified"...

It's easy to question Barack Obama's commitment to fiscal responsibility. All one has to do is look at the more than $930 million in pork-barrel spending projects Obama has requested in his three years in the U.S. Senate. By comparison, in more than 20 years in the Senate, John McCain has requested exactly zero dollars in pork.

Likewise, while Obama has said he would account for every dollar of new spending he proposes, he hasn't said where the money will come from. ...

Actions speak louder than words, and on the issues that matter most to Americans it's clear that Barack Obama has no credibility. ...

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