Obama Says Value-Added Tax May Be An Option

"I will cut taxes--cut taxes--for 95% of all working families. In an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raising taxes on the middle-class."

Barack Hussein Obama at the Democratic National Convention Aug 27, 2008

President Barack Obama suggested Wednesday that a new value-added tax on Americans is still on the table, seeming to show more openness to the idea than his aides have expressed in recent days.

Before deciding what revenue options are best for dealing with the deficit and the economy, Obama said in an interview with CNBC, "I want to get a better picture of what our options are."

After Obama adviser Paul Volcker recently raised the prospect of a value-added tax, or VAT, the Senate voted 85-13 last week for a nonbinding "sense of the Senate" resolution that calls such a tax "a massive tax increase that will cripple families on fixed income and only further push back America's economic recovery."

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