President Obama falsely claims 80 percent of public wants tax increases - Spokane Conservative | Examiner.com

President Obama falsely claims 80 percent of public wants tax increases - Spokane Conservative | Examiner.com

President Obama falsely claims 80 percent of public wants tax increases

• Barack Obama
• July 15, 2011
• By: Joe Newby

President Obama falsely claims 80 percent want tax increases.

Friday morning, President Obama falsely claimed that 80 percent of the American people want tax increases as part of a debt ceiling solution.
"The American people are sold," Obama said, in an exchange with NBC's Chuck Todd. "The problem is members of Congress are dug in ideologically."
According to The Blaze, President Obama said:

“The bottom line is that this is not an issue of salesmanship to the American people, the American people are sold. The American people are sold, I just want to repeat this. … You have 80% of the American people who support a balanced approach. 80% of the American people support an approach that includes revenues and includes cuts. So, the notion that somehow the American people aren’t sold is not the problem. The problem is members of Congress are dug in ideologically into various positions because they boxed themselves in with previous statements. And, so this is not a matter of the American people knowing what the right thing to do is, it’s a matter of Congress doing the right thing and reflecting the will of the American people. And if we do that, we will have solved this problem.”

Video: Obama claims Americans want tax increases

On Monday, Zogby released a poll showing a majority prefer spending cuts over tax hikes, and Gallup released a poll on Tuesday showing only 22 percent support tax hikes. Apparently, Obama thinks 22 percent equals 80 percent.
On Thursday, Rasmussen reported 55 percent are opposed to tax hikes as part of a debt solution, while only 34 percent do support tax increases.
Just two days ago, the White House dismissed polls showing just the opposite - claiming the American people "didn't have time" to focus on the issue.

On Wednesday, however, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney dismissed the polls, saying most people “don't have a lot of time to focus on what is a debt ceiling.”
Politico reports that Carney took a swipe at the press corps:
“I mean, honestly, did anyone in this room, before they had to cover issues like this, have any idea what a debt ceiling was?”

One has to ask - which is it: Are the American people sold that taxes need to be increased, or do they not have time to focus on the issue? The polls suggest voters are paying attention, and they do not want higher taxes.
The Hill reports:

Obama said 80 percent of Americans are on his side in the debate over what to include in the debt package. Voters are paying attention to "who seems to be trying to get something done," the president said. "It's going to be in the interests of everybody who wants to serve in this town to make sure they are on the right side of that impression."
"I hope [Republicans are] not just listening to lobbyists and special interests ... I hope they're listening to the American people as well," Obama said, citing "poll after poll" showing Republican voters, as well as Democrats, believe in taking "a balanced approach" — including both increased revenues and spending cuts in a plan to cut the deficit.

Obama is still hoping for a "big deal."
"I always have hope," he said. "Don't you remember my campaign?"
He also claimed that he would look at any "serious" plan his "Republican friends" come up with.
"If they show me a serious plan, I'm ready to move," he said.
"Serious," however, means one with tax increases - and Republicans are determined not to do that.
Instead, Republicans have offered a "Cut, Cap and Balance" plan to cut spending and balance the budget. Obama, however, dismissed that idea, calling it a gimmick to make a political statement.
Fox News reports the House is set to vote on a "Cut, Cap and Balance" bill next Wednesday.

The legislation -- an extension of a pledge introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and signed by dozens of GOP lawmakers this week -- aims to reduce federal spending, impose spending caps over the next decade and require the eventual passage of a balanced-budget amendment to raise the debt ceiling.
The "cap, cut and balance" provision would include a debt ceiling increase, though the size of the package and period of time it would cover is still being debated.

The President also dismissed calls for a balanced budget amentment to the Constitution, but did express some support for a plan by Senate Minority Mitch McConnell that would effectively give him control over the debt ceiling.