AoSHQ linked to this piece mostly to highlight the Warren Buffet quote on cap and trade:

“it’s a huge tax and there’s no sense calling it anything else. I mean, it is a tax. So it — and it’s a fairly regressive tax.”

- Real quickly, Mr. Buffet: how did you vote in the last election, again? -

…but I wanted to actually highlight the following exchange between George Stephanopoulos and Obama crony David Axelrod. In the interests of fair use, I am going to executive summary this one; feel free to compare it against the original. I think that I’ve captured the sense accurately, at least.

STEPHANOPOULOS: … Let me show you another one of those darned inconvenient video clips.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Clear statement from the n00b. So, he going to veto the health care bill? It’s a Democratic-spawned bill, after all: there’ll have to be a tax increase in there somewhere.

AXELROD: Like I’m going to say yes. So let me start by scaring people about the deficit we’ve spawned. The printing presses apparently have an upper limit to how much money we can spend, and the geeks in Treasury keep screaming something about “Weimar Germany,” whatever that is – so we’re going to have to pay for this payoff somehow. So we’ll rip off the rich by capping deductions. That always goes over well.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeaaah… except that we’re now defining ‘rich’ as ‘includes me,’ according to my accountant. So, he’s going back on the read-my-lips-no-raised-taxes thing?

AXELROD: I told you, I’m not saying yes on this. Instead, we’re going to run out the clock and throw something together.

STEPHANOPOULOS: My accountant was pretty clear on this; I’m in the crosshairs. So: POTUS was lying through his teeth about the no-new-taxes thing, huh?

AXELROD: I have the IRS on my side.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I have the thing keeping your guy above a 40% approval rating on mine.

AXELROD: Audits.

STEPHANOPOULOS: “Anonymous sources reveal.”

AXELROD: …Really, it all depends on what the meaning of ‘firm pledge’ is.

For those coming in late; of course this plan means a tax increase for people making less than 250K/year. Axelrod’s easily smart enough to avoid saying so, but that’s what it means, and there’s no particular reason to pretend otherwise.

Elections have consequences.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.