U.S. HOUSE DOESN’T HAVE THE VOTES FOR “PLAN B”
The GOP-controlled U.S. House of Representatives adjourned for Christmas break without voting on a massive tax hike being pushed by its “Republican” leadership.
The tax hike – dubbed “Plan B” – would have sucked $1 trillion out of the private sector over the coming decade, including payroll tax hikes, estate tax hikes and income tax hikes on individuals making more than $1 million a year. U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed a $1.6 trillion tax hike plan that includes all of the above – except his income tax hikes would affect anyone making more than $400,000 a year.
Obama also wants unilateral authority to raise the U.S. debt limit – which is scheduled to hit its $16.4 trillion ceiling early next year.
Both plans are terrible – which is why fiscal conservatives in the U.S. House are standing against them even as the so-called “fiscal cliff” approaches. Of course it really doesn’t matter what they do, because as we’ve noted previously Obama wants to go over the cliff.
In dismissing lawmakers for the break, U.S. Speaker John Boehner acknowledged that his tax hike “did not have sufficient support from our members to pass.” That’s quite a reversal from earlier in the day, when U.S. Majority Leader Eric Cantor told reporters “we’re going to have the votes.”
Boehner failed even though anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist signaled that a vote in favor of “Plan B” would not violate his organizations much-ballyhooed “Taxpayer Protection Pledge.”
“Plan B” is nothing but the latest iteration of the new “Republican” modus operandi … caving to the Democrats on bread-and-butter fiscal issues as they try to silence fiscal conservatives within their own ranks.
Sad …
“Instead of focusing on cutting spending, Speaker Boehner and the Republican Establishment spent the last few weeks purging conservatives from prominent committees,” wrote Matt Kibbe of Freedomworks shortly before the aborted vote. “We didn’t elect a majority Republican House so they could roll over every time the going gets tough. We elected them to STOP Obama’s out-of-control power grabs.”
That’s true …
UPDATE: Every member of South Carolina’s GOP delegation (Jeff Duncan, Trey Gowdy, Mick Mulvaney, Tim Scott and Joe Wilson) stood against this measure. Props to them.
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13 comments
The process by which bills come to the floor is extra-constitutional and crony oriented anyway…but the purge of the fiscal stalwarts from various committees shows the true heart of the GOP.
Excellent, let’s ride this motherfucker off the cliff. Obama wants it, let’s let him have it. Let’s see that dipshit try to print his way out of this hole. I’m willing to take a hit to see the Democrats shit in their pants.
So what the Democrats say is true. Republicans are willing to put the country in recession to protect the tax rate of billionairs.
Brad +1
Jan -2
Have a Great Day!! :) There won’t be many left with the Demlicans and Republicrats in charge.
Frank Pytel
“It’s the spending, Stupid.”
Duncan, Scott, Mulvaney and Gowdy are leaders. Joe Wilson is a lemming. All he could tell me was that the fiscal cliff is a “bad thing.” Duh……the guy is an idiot.
Duncan, Scott, Mulvaney and Gowdy are leaders. Joe Wilson is a lemming. All he could tell me was that the fiscal cliff is a “bad thing.” Duh……the guy is an idiot.
Everybody got their parachute ready? I hear some people actually have golden ones.Those would be the republicans like Cantor for one, that have bet in the stock market that the cliff will be gone over. They will MAKE money on this.
Boehner is an idiot. Just stop trying to win some ridiculous battle with tax cuts for the wealthy and start demanding spending cuts. Once we are over the cliff, Democrats can stop giving a shit about cutting spending altogether and hardball you into giving them just the tax cuts they want anyways.
All of this is a charade anyways. It is just political posturing until the last minute, when a “grand bargain” will be made and both sides will come away pissed off even though not enough was done to really solve our deficit problem.
The only real story here is that Grover Norquist pretended voting for a bill raising taxes doesn’t break his pledge to not raise taxes. LOL… Sure thing buddy. Who paid you to change your mind? Moron.
It really is all theater, the debt is unsolvable-we can’t tax and cut enough to fix it. The country the fiscally walking dead already. The real question is how/when the recokening is going to come about.
We should push every politician, Republican and Democrat alike, in DC off the fiscal cliff.
Why do Republican politicians have to answer to Grover Norquist? Did the individual states elect their Senators and Representatives? The Republicans should care about what their citizens are saying, not what Grover Norquist says. Damned bumper sticker pundits like Norquist turn our politicians into robots instead of intelligent people.
Partly right Ralph, but let’s push them off of a real cliff. Maybe the capital steps or somewhere convenient?
And yes Grover sucks but remember he is only someone’s tool.
Mark Kibbe is partially right. We didn’t elect a majority Republican House so they could roll over when the going gets tough. We elected a majority Republican House because Republicans gerrymander the districts to protect their majority.
Over the cliff it is. Wait until those 85 year old Republican donors see us lop 4 million off their estate tax exemptions.