South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint has the same problems with the tax deal that I do – and he’s decided they’re show-stoppers (Hugh Hewitt via Reuters).
I’m glad the President recognizes that tax increases hurt the economy. I mean, I guess that’s progress. But frankly, Hugh, most of us who ran this election said we were not going to vote for anything that increased the deficit. This does. It raises taxes, it raises the death tax. I don’t think we needed to negotiate that aspect of this thing away. I don’t think we need to extend unemployment any further without paying for it, and without making some modifications such as turning it into a loan at some point. It then encourages people to go back to work. So there’s a lot of problems with it. I mean, and frankly, the biggest problem I have, Hugh, is we don’t need a temporary economy, which means we don’t need a temporary tax rate. A permanent extension of our current tax rates would allow businesses to plan five and ten years in advance, and that’s how you build an economy.
DeMint even went far enough to say he was OK with shifting the discussion to next year. Of course, Boehner would be Speaker and DeMint would have more friends in the Senate.
I think it’s more likely that DeMint will try to add spending reductions and some rate permanency to the deal first (Harry Reid trying to do favors for his state’s casinos opened the door for that). The Club for Growth has the same objections DeMint does. This could get very interesting, and could lead to an even better deal.
Filed under: Economics, National Politics, Republicans, Spending, Taxes
This makes Republican leaders look like a bunch of corporate lackies!!!!