Hillary's 'No New Taxes'

Time: Among the various policy ideas and position papers put out by Hillary Clinton so far in the Democratic primary, one stands out for its bumper-sticker simplicity: If your family makes less than $250,000 a year, your taxes won’t go up.

It’s a line Clinton has repeatedly emphasized in the last week and a half in places as varied as a dusty agricultural center in Ames, Iowa; a rally in Memphis; and a Democratic meeting in South Carolina.

“I was actually the only one on that debate stage who will commit to raising your wages, and not your taxes,” she said last Tuesday at a campaign event in Dallas. “I don’t see how you can be serious about raising working and middle-class families’ incomes if you also want to slap new taxes on them—no matter what the taxes will pay for.” 

But behind that simple promise is a roiling debate within Democratic circles about the future of the party’s domestic agenda.

The no-new-taxes pledge is emblematic of the broader concerns about a Clinton presidency raised by the progressive side of the party. Critics say it is a crafty political move that would limit the ambition of proposals on everything from expanding Social Security to healthcare reform. It reinforces a long-running Republican argument that some would prefer to defeat head on. And, to put it simply, it makes it hard to pay for things Democrats want.

We got Obamacare because the middle class pays for it.   If the Dems want to distribute middle class cookies then they will raise middle class taxes.