Obama Still Open to Taxing Health Benefits

Watch out:

President Obama's top economic advisers on Sunday disputed claims that the administration is receptive to the idea of taxing employee health benefits, but would not rule out the option.

"He is open to all ideas," said Austan Goolsbee, of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, on "FOX News Sunday."

Adviser Christina Romer, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," also would not take the option off the table.

But both played down an article in The New York Times Sunday that said advisers were acknowledging the president would not oppose efforts by Congress to tax health benefits, even though he is not personally proposing the change.

"That was highly overstated. That is not in the president' budget," Goolsbee said. "There are some people in Congress who are pushing this, but this is not the president's idea."

Such a move would be politically problematic, since Obama slammed GOP rival John McCain for a similar proposal during the presidential campaign. As a candidate, Obama opposed such taxes and called them "a multi-trillion dollar tax hike."

Romer said Sunday that the president remains opposed to the idea. But when she was pushed on it, she said nothing was being taken off the table.

If you want to know what this might cost you, go ask your employer what the total annual cost of the company-paid portion of your health plan is. Then, based on your tax bracket, take either 15% or 25% of that amount (39% if you're in the highest bracket). That's what this new tax will cost you.

Note the clever positioning by Obama. He can cleverly claim to be against the notion of taxing health care benefits while allowing Congress to go ahead with their plans. Once the bill is presented to him there will be other elements in it that are "too important to lose", and thus with great "sadness", he'll be required to sign it. All the while maintaining that he was against it all along.

Pure politics.