Ronald Reagan raised taxes many times when he was President (former Republican Senator Alan Simpson recently told NPR it was 11 times). Would that get him kicked out of the current GOP?
It's important to remember that when you hear Paul Ryan, Newt Gingrich and a host of other conservatives giving President Obama bad reviews for his forty minute speech on Wednesday in which he gave (kicking and screaming, but still) his long awaited presentation on how he plans to deal with the increasing federal debt and deficit that has become a major concern in political circles in D.C.
Obama of course, finally came to give this speech and revise his plans for 2012 budget wise after Ryan produced his radical plan to balance the budget over the next decade last week, which includes lot of spending cuts, many more tax cuts for the wealthy, and converting Medicare to a voucher program.
But the GOP was unmoved on Wednesday.
House Speaker John Boehner said “any plan that starts with job-destroying tax hikes is a non-starter.”Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "We don’t believe a lack of revenue is part of the problem, so we will not be discussing raising taxes.”
And according to sources who were inside the room where a bi-partisan group of members of Congress met with the President before the speech, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said “We need to set expectations correctly. … We won’t support tax increases. We, as conference, won’t raise taxes."
And if you watch any other Republican on a cable news show, you'll always hear the first thing out of their mouth when this is discussed: Washington doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.
True perhaps, but the fact of the matter is that Americans like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They do. So that's why politicians of all stripes have a hard time trying to make any fixes to the program, though in the case of health care, the rate of inflation is absolutely excessive and costs need to be contained, or it will bankrupt the country (as well as private businesses who pay for workers health care).
Looks like the Republicans are on the wrong side of that issue when you ask Americans about how to begin to try to ease the deficit:
A new USA Today/Gallup poll says this:
[Poll respondents] favor imposing higher taxes on families with household incomes of $250,000 and above, as Obama has endorsed: 59% support the idea, 37% oppose it.
The same poll shows that:
[Poll respondents] overwhelmingly oppose making major changes to Medicare. By 2-to-1, they support minor changes or none at all to control costs, rather than major changes or a complete overhaul. Even a third of Republicans say the government should not try to control the costs of Medicare.
But still, Republicans remain unbowed when it comes to finding ways to cut programs that people need and like vs. the odious thought of raising taxes. Check out this story in today's New York Times by correspondent Adam Nagourney, on the intransigence that new Governor Jerry Brown is facing from Republicans as he tries to close a $13.5 billion budget gap by this June – as an antiquated state law requires a 2/3rds vote from the state Legislature to do so, and even though it is heavily Democratic in make up, he just needs two members of the GOP to come along with him:
At base, Mr. Brown and Democratic leaders are offering voters a stark choice: support an extension of three expiring taxes — income, sales and car registration surcharges — or endure even more severe cuts in state spending. Mr. Brown said lawmakers who thought there was another option for closing the budget gap were delusional.
“There is a certain amount of magical thinking going on under the Capitol dome,” he said. “And the magical thinking is that the $13.5 billion can be conjured. Poof! Getting that $13.5 billion is going to take some taxes. And if it’s not going to be taxes, it’s going to take a radical restructuring of both public safety and public education. And if there’s a third way, I’d like to see it.”
The current legislative paralysis is offering an early verdict on this governor’s promise to try to ease partisan tensions in California. His attacks on Republicans until now have been relatively measured — at least by the standards of today’s political discourse — to the concern of some Democrats who argue that the only way to win this battle is with intense pressure on Republicans.
In a suggestion of impatience with Mr. Brown — who this week celebrated his 100th day in office and his 73rd birthday — the Democratic legislative leaders said lawmakers would hold forums in key districts to underline the prospective cuts. The Legislature has already approved about $14 billion in cuts to close the $26.5 billion shortfall and leave a $1 billion cushion.
Did you get that? California lawmakers have already cut $14 billion out of their budget, so it's not like they're not doing the hard work to try to balance a budget – but isn't this the shared sacrifice that we're told we need to participate in?
The battle is just beginning, and who knows what the Congress will ultimately decided upon – President Obama plan, or Paul Ryan's. Actually, the House is voting and will support the Ryan plan today – but there is still is a Democratic U.S. Senate and a Democratic President to prevent that budget from becoming law.
But two years from now, the GOP could win back the Senate and the Presidency, and then the Ryan plan would become the law of the land. Is the country ready for that?
This article appears in Apr 14-20, 2011.