Like all his other promises, President Obama's no tax increase pledge to those making less than $250,000 is going out the window.Whether or not Congress passes a Value Added Tax (VAT) or finds other ways to raise revenue, the middle class is about to be socked in the teeth with tax increase that will give the lie to the president's populist promise to raise taxes only on "the rich."Michael Barone writing in the New York Post, shows how states are taking the lead in cutting spending - a lesson the federal government could learn:When revenues crashed, congressional Democrats sent a third of the money in their $862 billion February 2009 stimulus package to state and local governments. The stated reason was to prevent interruption of services. The political motive was to maintain existing state and local payrolls and to keep the dues money flowing to the public-employee unions that were so generous to Democrats in the 2008 election.But that was one-time relief. As New York's...(Read Full Post)