Obama laying the ground work for middle class tax hike

The president, in one of the more curious passages last night, said:

I don't want that final one-third of the cost of health care to be completely shouldered on the backs of middle-class families who are already struggling in a difficult economy. And so if I see a proposal that is primarily funded through taxing middle-class families, I'm going to be opposed to that.

Primarily? Mickey Kaus spotted that one, explaining:

In standard Washspeak, this means Obama is open to a health reform that taxes middle class families as long as it isn't "primarily" or "completely" funded by taxes on middle class families. But 49% funded by taxes on middle class families? . . . However you interpret these sentences, it's hard to see how Obama hasn't given a flashing green light to non-trivial tax increases on middle class families.

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So what happened to the cross-his-heart, absolutely won't raise taxes on people making less than $250,000 (other than the cigarette and energy taxes he has favored long ago)? Yes, Robert Gibbs has been hedging for some time on whether that was a "pledge" or a "promise" and whether the president is doing a 180 on it. But this is the clearest signal yet that he's coming after non-rich voters to pay for expanded access for the uninsured - and for the rationing of their own health care.

More important, though, Obama is giving his blessing to two variations on the exclusion cap. In one, a cap kicks in gradually, so that it exerts some downward pressure on medical costs over tie. In another, it's the insurance companies that are taxed. As far as I know, neither of these generates a huge amount of revenue, so it's not tremendously helpful when it comes to raising revenue. But the first and quite possibly the second do bend the cost curve over the long run. Or, at least, the Congressional Budget Office believes they do.