I don’t follow his economic reasoning. If the inflation calculation comes up with a zero, is that a tax increase too?
This is tricky, which is why Obama thinks he can get away with it:
If the inflation number used for indexing tax brackets and the exclusion in the Alternative Minimum Tax is lower than the rate at which incomes increase in nominal dollar terms due to inflation, then there is a hidden tax increase (the old term was “bracket creep”). However, the author’s assertion that lowballing the inflation rate for application in the tax code constitutes a tax increase on all tax-payers seems unfounded. If, as you suggest, they pretend the inflation rate is zero, all the brackets and the like stay the same, so everyone whose income in nominal dollar terms is static won’t feel a tax increase — they’re just being screwed by inflation eroding the value of their income.