If you listen to many in the Republican intelligentsia, you will hear this accusation that conservative rebels destroyed the Republican Party. The reality is that nothing changed after the defeat of Boehner’s plan B other than Republicans not buying into the premise of raising revenue for the federal leviathan. Before last night’s vote, we faced two possible outcomes; either we go over the cliff (which | Read More »
Unlike some of my RedState colleagues, for reasons I explained on Tuesday, I agree with the basic theory behind John Boehner’s Plan B solution to the tax side of the fiscal cliff standoff: rather than trading Republican blessings on tax hikes for illusory “spending cuts,” let Democrats get the tax hikes they want with no pretense that Republicans support them, pass a bill making permanent | Read More »
Later today, the House of Representatives will vote on a major tax increase. This disastrous idea is being pushed by Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor and will do nothing other than put Republicans on record supporting tax increases that should be the sole responsibility of President Obama. Fortunately, groups like Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America are opposing the bill. | Read More »
Republicans in Congress intend to vote today on Plan B, John Boehner’s fall back plan on the fiscal cliff. The President says he will veto it. In other words, the Republicans are going to go on record that they will sell out their last remaining principle — no tax increases — and get nothing from the Democrats in return. Nothing. There’ll be no Democrat deal | Read More »
Obama has spent four years asserting that his plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire on the top two brackets is not a tax increase, rather just a continuation of the current law (pursuant to the sunset provision) for the wealthy, and a tax cut for 98% of taxpayers. Republicans spent the past 4 years sans the last month arguing that this would constitute | Read More »
At least Esau got a bowl of lentil soup for selling out his birthright. What will Republicans get? It’s amazing how events in politics seem to repeat themselves more often than Charlie Brown and the football. It seems like it was yesterday that we were advocating against Boehner’s trial balloon vote to raise the debt ceiling at the end of July. Back in 2011, it | Read More »
An old joke, long attributed to Winston Churchill goes like this. Churchill asked a famous British socialite, “Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds?” “My goodness, Mr. Churchill. Well, I suppose we would have to discuss terms, of course,” the socialite replied. Churchill then asked, “Would you sleep with me for five pounds?” at which the socialite angrily responded, “Mr. Churchill, what | Read More »
So Boehner plans to introduce a bill on the House floor that increases the top marginal tax rate on those earning more than $1 million per year. Most likely, Boehner and Obama will ultimately agree on a deal that splits the difference between $400,000 and $500,000. Many Republicans will shrug their shoulders: “Who cares about a few rich liberals?” However, this rationale represents a shortsighted | Read More »
On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Conn Carroll to discuss the latest proposal in the never-ending Fiscal Cliff negotiations, whether Republicans would except a tax hike as part of a deal and if Boehner may lose his speakership.
Read More »What is worse than striking out? Grounding into a double play. Not only is Boehner prepared to raise taxes – both through capping deductions and increasing marginal rates – he is now prepared to preemptively surrender our last point of leverage in one fell swoop. The media is now reporting that Boehner offered Obama a clean 1-year debt ceiling extension as part of the deal | Read More »
A common tactic used by someone who fears confrontation is to contrive an excuse for not battling his adversary at the present, while promising to deal harshly with him in the future. That’s how the GOP has operated with Obama in all of the budget battles over the past two years. It’s always ‘the next fight.’ There is an emerging consensus from some conservatives inside | Read More »
Conservatives need answers. Four Republicans were removed from their respective committees for voting against House Republican Leaders. As has now been well chronicled, the excuses for why the removals happened keeps changing. It is time for conservatives to start fighting back. As House Republicans continue to surrender and out negotiate themselves, we must demand answers. Go here now and start calling Steering Committee members. Ask | Read More »
More than a week since several conservative House members were kicked off their committees, they have finally received a personal note from Boehner. During last week’s conference meeting, Boehner explicitly told members that there was a purge based upon voting records, that he was a part of it, and that other members who deviate from the big government echo chamber would be next. Here is | Read More »
The purge of conservatives from key committees last week was not a natural disaster. It was perpetrated by leadership with the help of the rest of the 31 members on the Steering Committee. They all need to hear from us. Let’s take a step back and analyze what occurred last week. It is not a normal occurrence for incumbent members in good standing to be | Read More »
It’s not like we haven’t been through this recently. In fact, we’ve seen this rodeo less than 18 months ago. When will Republicans learn their lesson? Republicans came to power in 2011 promising to put a stop to Obama’s addiction to spending and growing government. They pledged to cut $100 billion immediately. They had a number of opportunities to leverage their control over the budget | Read More »
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