Leftist policies are often (and correctly) described as “tax and spend.” After the stimulus bill passed, though, some flipped the phrase to “spend, then tax,” anticipating that the Left would ultimately demand higher taxes to reduce the gargantuan deficit they created (and we opposed). We now have proof that the change in terminology was correct as well:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday that a deal to raise the legal debt limit, which he expects to be completed in the next few weeks, will be only a short-term “down payment” on solving the nation’s debt problem, and that it would be “irresponsible” to reduce the massive federal deficit anticipated over the next ten years with spending cuts alone.

What is needed, he said, is a longer-term deal on a “balanced framework” that includes “revenue increases through tax reform.”

That’s government speak for tax hikes. (I suppose it’s easy to push for tax hikes on everyone else when you simply ignore those taxes yourself.) Recall that President Obama was adamant that he would never raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000/year, a promise he has already violated in a variety of ways, whether it’s through the 62% tax increase on tobacco–disproportionately consumed by poor Americans–or through the plethora of new taxes in the ObamaCare bill. But beyond all that, even if he tries to lower the deficit going forward by raising taxes only on those making over $250,000, Geithner confirmed that that does include small business, the backbone of our economy. That will further crush any hope of a recovery and result in higher taxes for all of us, regardless of income, as those taxes are simply passed to the public in the form of higher prices for goods and services.

This was the plan from the beginning. The Left intentionally ran up the deficit, spending insane amounts of your money on their self-serving priorities, knowing that they’d eventually say that in order to get the deficit under control they would have to raise taxes. They calculated that Americans would be too ignorant or lazy to figure out that we wouldn’t be in this bad of a deficit position if they hadn’t passed–among other spending measures–ObamaCare, the stimulus, TARP, and a bloated Omnibus spending bill (the last three all enjoyed at least some Republican support, especially TARP).

They calculated wrong.

Tea Partiers opposed all that spending from the beginning, knowing in advance the con game the Left was playing. And because most Americans are now waking up to just whom they have elected, we are well positioned to convince them to stand with us in opposition to any new tax increases. Our job, as always, is to engage and educate in an intelligent way. If we do this, their latest con job will fail.

And so far, I’m happy to report, the Republicans appear to be holding the line against tax increases:

Asked if he was opposed to eliminating subsidies and other tax expenditures as well as increases in rates, Boehner replied: “We’ve been opposed to increasing tax rates.” As for tax rate increases, he said earlier: “A tax hike cannot pass the U.S. House of Representatives. It’s not just a bad idea — it doesn’t have the votes, and it can’t happen.”

For now. But we all know how fond Republicans are of caving on critical issues when we need them most. So we have to keep the pressure on all our representatives–Republican or Democrat–letting them know every day we expect them not to make us pay for all the irresponsible spending we opposed. Also, if we can couple this with standing strong against raising the debt ceiling, we might have a chance of actually reducing spending by forcing them to cut and pay for their recklessness themselves instead of with more of our money.

Cross-posted at redstatevirginia.com