Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) said on Face the Nation today that he doesn’t support a tax on middle-class Americans to help pay for the war in Afghanistan.
“In the middle of a recession, we’re probably not going to be able to increase taxes to pay for it,” he said. “There should have been, as far as I’m concerned, tax increases long ago on upper bracket folks who did so well during the Bush years.”
But now, Levin continued, “I don’t think middle-income America is in a position now where they can pay additional taxes because the economic stress is so great here.”
Levin continued his emphasis that any additional U.S. troops should be used to train Afghanistan’s forces, not to fight the war for them.
“The key to success in Afghanistan is the Afghan army taking on the Taliban,” Levin said, saying he wanted “an Afghan surge, and not an American surge.”
On health care reform, Levin sounded moderately confident that the Senate would pass a bill with an opt-out public health insurance option.
“I think there’s a decent chance we can get 60 votes here,” Levin said.
Late Update: Here’s the video.
