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"Read my lips: no new taxes" is a now-famous phrase spoken by former American president and candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination on August 18.

Once he became president, however, Bush was pressured by Democrats and some Republicans to raise taxes as a way to reduce the deficit. Bush refused many times but was making no progress with a Senate and House that was controlled by Democrats. Bush later agreed to a compromise in which he worked with Congressional Democrats to raise several taxes as part of a 1990 budget agreement. This reversal caused great controversy, especially in the more conservative wing of the Republican Party.

In the election itself, Democratic nominee Bill Clinton, running as a moderate, also pointed to the quotation as evidence of Bush's untrustworthiness, which contributed to Bush losing his bid for re-election.

Was all that cutting and pasting(guessing it was wiki from the links) supposed to have something to do with now, as in this decade? GHW Bush was put in an untenable position because his own unequivocal statement made him vulnerable to it. With the overwhelming assistance of the media, the looming budget crisis and possible Government shut down was painted by his opponents as entirely his fault with no mention of Democrat intransigence so he was faced with two bad choices and while I think he chose the worse option(I guess we agree on that) I'm pretty sure he would have been just as badly wounded if he had stood up to Congress and kept his pledge. I don't have a crystal ball but I'm pretty sure the die was cast when he made a definitive statement like that and the media realized that they could and would hammer him no matter which way he went. It's not pretty but it's the reality of our one sided media driven politics. At this point I just get a kick out of seeing how predictably people here come rushing out to condemn our current President based on a rumor. At least the WSJ had the decency to call it a rumor the NYT would have reported it as incontrovertible fact.

Don't forget that George H W Bush agreed to raise taxes because it was the fall leading up to the first Gulf War and he needed the support of the dems. They said they wouldn't use it against him and we all know what happened in the next election!! Some people just never learn NOT to trust anything the dems say!