http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6355N520100406

(Reuters) – The United States should consider raising taxes to help bring deficits under control and may need to consider a European-style value-added tax, White House adviser Paul Volcker said on Tuesday.

Volcker, answering a question from the audience at a New York Historical Society event, said the value-added tax "was not as toxic an idea" as it has been in the past and also said a carbon or other energy-related tax may become necessary.

Though he acknowledged that both were still unpopular ideas, he said getting entitlement costs and the U.S. budget deficit under control may require such moves. "If at the end of the day we need to raise taxes, we should raise taxes," he said.

Two weeks after passing a new entitlement into law, Obama’s economic advisor says we need to raise taxes to get entitlement costs under control.

The solution to big government is always more government.

 

If anyone’s still wondering how the Obama administration would treat the human rights struggle in Iran following the elections last week, it looks like we have our answer.

We’ve got Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, giving her full-throated, unequivocal support ambivalence towards the cause of freedom in Iran:

"The people of Iran deserve the right to have their voices heard and their votes counted. The outcome of any election should reflect the will of the people. And it is for the Iranians to determine how they resolve this internal protest concerning the outcome of the recent election, but it is a fundamental value that the United States holds with respect to free and fair and credible elections.”

And Barry on Saturday, apparently still under the impression that the Iranians seek the respect of the international community:

President Obama on Saturday called on the Iranian government to "stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people" amid calls for the White House to go further in showing support for the Iranian people after the country’s disputed elections.

Republicans, in particular, have pressed Obama to speak out more forcefully, as protesters and authorities clashed Saturday in Tehran during a government crackdown.

"The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights," Obama said in a written statement.

Obama also referred back to his speech this month to the Muslim world, saying "suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion." 

And Obama cited the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s, famous quote: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

"I believe that," Obama said. "The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness."

And Gibbsie on Thursday, giving us a status report on all the free thinkers in the Obama cabinet:

QUESTION: Robert, on Iran, is there an internal debate in the White House now between those who clearly support what the president is doing in terms of the hands-off approach and those who think that the president needs to have some stronger language? Is that ongoing in the White House?

GIBBS: There’s no debate in the White House.

QUESTION: Is there division at all? Is everyone on the same page on this or are there those who think that the president — internally — that the president…

GIBBS: Everybody’s on the same page. There’s no difference of opinion.

So there you have it.  It looks like the United States of America is going to “bear witness” to the “long arc” of the “moral universe” while the mullahs brutalize the protesters that Obama encouraged to press for freedom a few weeks ago.

What a treat this guy is to watch!  I’m so glad they’re all on the same page over there.  It warms my cockles.

The topics of discussion before the House Foreign Affairs committee ranged from the $900 million in aid pledged to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to Dick Cheney’s claim that classified documents prove the Bush administration’s interrogation methods on suspected terrorists yielded vital intelligence.

“Well, it won’t surprise you that I don’t consider him a particularly reliable source of information,” Clinton said of the former vice president.

What a smug, self-important twit.  She’s asked about releasing specific documents that Cheney mentioned would show the effectiveness of interrogations, and she takes the occasion to attack Cheney’s character.  Not only is she smug, but doesn’t she see the irony in being married to one of the least-reliable, lying jackballs on the planet, who she was more than happy to have out campaigning across America for her wide ass?  She’s the most cheated-on woman in American history, and she’s lecturing Congress about her judgment of character and representing the country in all things diplomatic?  None of this shit makes sense!

Wasn’t Barack Obama’s administration going to ring in a new era of bipartisanship and harmony?  Who the hell are these people?