Democrats Look to Hike Middle-Class Taxes

By John Aloysius Farrell // May 17, 2012 | 3:48 p.m.

This was the week that Bill Clinton urged Democrats to hike middle-class taxes, and Gov. Martin O'Malley did so.

The two events were unrelated. Clinton was talking to a "fiscal summit" in Washington about raising U.S. income taxes back to the level they were at when he was president, in order to reduce the federal budget deficit.

And O'Malley's move came after months of squabbling in the Maryland General Assembly, where the Democratic governor and his Democratic majority have been struggling to close a $1 billion gap in the state budget.

But both broke with Democratic dogma which, as set by President Obama, defines middle-class as couples earning less than $250,000 a year and promises voters there will be no middle-class tax hikes.