fools believe and liars lie

i paid no attention to President Obama during his Superbowl interview... i didn't expect him to say anything pertinent... but i also didn't expect him to lie... apologies to Rep. Joe Wilson.

i have previously noted a change in my take-home pay following January 1st, last... it happens every year, and i didn't think about it much... as a matter of fact, i was pleased to be taking home a whopping $11 extra in my paycheck!... what i didn't realize was the shell-game going on in Congress... my Federal Withholding went up by 23%, while my Social Security Withholding went down by 32%... net gain: $11.

now, i heard Obama say he "didn't once raise taxes"... and i started thinking... if my Federal Withholding increased, doesn't that mean (by default) that my taxes went up?... and i seem to recall that the Healthcare bill which was passed was done so under "Budget Reconciliation" rules, which (seems to me) to be tied to taxation... could it be (horror) that a politician just lied to me?

so, i pulled my head wearily from the sand, brushed the detritus from my eyes, and squinted into the sun... oh, and searched the internet.

Promises:

"I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."
--Candidate Barack Obama, Sept. 12, 2008

"No family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase."
--http://change.gov/agenda/taxes_agenda/

"If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime."
--President Barack Obama, Feb. 24, 2009

"The statement didn’t come with caveats."
--Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs, April 15, 2009, when asked if the pledge applies to healthcare

Obama tax pledges (above)

Facts:

• Obama’s Claim That He Did Not Raise Taxes Is Rejected As ‘Blatantly False’ by Taxpayer Watchdog CNSnews.com - February 08, 2011
• Health Care Reform: 13 Tax Changes on the Way - February 08, 2011
• The Obama administration defend the healthcare requirement as an exercise of the government’s “power to lay and collect taxes.” - July 17, 2010
• Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2009 will be financed through increases in federal tobacco taxes
• Pennsylvania Law Review - "House Bill 3296 imposes an individual mandate through the exercise of Congress’s taxing and spending powers."
• 5 Financial Bills That Snuck In For 2010

so... let me see if i got this straight... Obama didn't raise any taxes, but he passed several tax increases... these tax increases are permanent... in fairness (sort of) he extended some temporary tax cuts (which expire in two years) to balance out these taxes increases... but these tax cuts are coming out of my Social Security payments... so, i'm not paying into Social Security as much as i used to... which means there's even less in Social Security for when i get old enough to use it.

crap.

so, in two years, my federal withholding will not go down... my Social Security Withholding will go back up... i'm taking home less money... i'm required to buy "adequate" healthcare... and if i smoke due to all the extra stress this causes, i pay more for the privilege!

yet... Obama said he didn't raise taxes... pass me another cup of Kool-aid, Mr. Jones.