Bush Dangerously Close to the Read My Lips Zone

Posted on February 18, 2005

President George W. Bush is dangerously close to entering the Read My Lips: No New Taxes territory that sunk his father's hopes of a second term as president. Bush, Jr. knew that the only way he could get small and medium-sized businesses on board with this social security privatization idea is to promise not to increase the taxes paid by businesses to social security. He said over and over again he would consider any fix but a tax hike. But, here we go again. The Associated Press reports that President Bush is, indeed, open to the idea of raising social security and/or medicare taxes. That set off a firestorm among fiscal conservatives (You remember them, right? Small government, no deficits, fiscal responsibility? No? Me either.) "People are quite angry about Bush opening a Pandora's box of tax increases," said Stephen Moore, an anti-tax advocate from the Club for Growth. "It's almost like 'read my lips' all over again." Be careful, Mr. Moore, you are treading dangerously close to heresy here. That almost sounds like you're calling our president a flip-flopper.