Geithner Won't Rule Out Middle Class Tax Hike

President Obama’s top economic advisers fanned out across the Sunday talk shows today, with Tim Geithner leaving open the possibility that Obama would renege on a campaign promise not to raise taxes on the middle class. “We’re going to have to do what’s necessary” to revive the economy, the Treasury secretary said on This Week. White House economic adviser Christina Romer told State of the Union the economy hasn’t bottomed out yet, saying, “It’s going to be a long, hard slog getting out of this.”

• On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Jim DeMint was clear in his take on the Cash for Clunkers program: “This is a great example of the stupidity coming out of Washington right now.”
• Also on Fox, Rep. Charles Rangel complained that the conservative Blue Dog Democrats drove up the cost of the health care bill by forcing lawmakers to detach the public option from Medicare.
• On This Week, Alan Greenspan said Obama’s promise of a deficit neutral health care bill is "not adequate" to combat the nation’s ballooning deficit. The former Fed chief also predicted another drop in housing prices, which he said would lead to a second round of foreclosures and prolong a recovery.
• Romer, the only female on Obama’s economic team, said she has no problem being heard amidst strong personalities like Geithner and Larry Summers. “I’m right up there with the boys,” she said.

(More Timothy Geithner stories.)