Tax Hike? Some Say Now's The Time To Pounce  The Obama
administration did some quick backpedaling on taxes this week.
It began when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was asked if a
middle-class tax hike might be necessary in order to control the
ballooning deficit.  "We can't make those judgments yet about
exactly what it's going to take and how we're going to get
there," he said on ABC's This Week. "But we do not have a choice
about this as a country. If we want an economy that's going to
grow in the future, we have to bring those deficits down."  No
sooner had Geithner opened the door to a middle-class tax hike
than White House spokesman Robert Gibbs slammed it shut.  "I am
reiterating the president's clear commitment in the clearest
terms possible: that he's not raising taxes on those that make
less than $250,000 a year," Gibbs said.  He was emphatic. He
left no wiggle room. One could almost read his lips.  "Read my
lips," of course, was George H.W. Bush's famous challenge when
he promised not to raise