Obama Commission Hints at Tax Hikes?

The Americans for Tax Reform says that President Obama's formation today of a bi-partisan commission to evaluate potential tax hikes and spending cuts will only do the former. What's really drawn their ire is in the inclusion of former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson as the representative of the tax-cutting proponents.

"Taxpayers have every reason to be concerned. Alan Simpson has a history of walking into a room with the stated goal of reform – and in both cases he voted for higher taxes and higher spending, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. There is no reason to believe that things would be different this time around – when you put everything on the table, including damaging tax hikes, taxpayers will more than likely be sold out."

It doesn't look like the new commission will be working that hard, since they're not expected to produce any reports for a looooonnnngg time.

"Under the guidance of Simpson and Bowles, the commission is expected to have a raft of recommendations for the president by December."

It will be interesting to hear what recommendations for spending cuts come back from this commission. Of course, if they work along the lines of this panel, we may never hear from them again.