Taxes and Tables

Washington Monthly ^ | May 10, 2011 | Steve Benen

[Still Thinking]

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), in his speech last night in New York, insisted that he’s desperate to lower the deficit. But his desperation has limits.

“We should be talking about cuts of trillions, not just billions. They should be actual cuts and program reforms, not broad deficit or debt targets that punt the tough questions to the future.

“And with the exception of tax hikes — which will destroy jobs — everything is on the table.”

Dave Weigel noted, “At some point, eventually, people are going to notice that if one thing is off the table, ‘everything’ is not on the table.”

Alas, that point has not yet arrived. The Speaker didn’t just make his argument in passing, either — he returned, again and again, to his commitment to blocking any measure that increased any tax on anyone at any time by any amount. Indeed, Boehner has given up entirely on any claim to reason — he not only argued that even a modest tax increase would “wreak havoc” on the economy, the Speaker went so far as to say increased revenue would make it harder to lower the deficit.

[Still Thinking]

Uh, Mr. Dildo Breath sir? I believe it was spending that has changed radically in the last two years, not taxes. Second, lower taxes help the economy while higher rates risk slowing it. Other than that, insightful analyses.

[thackney]

Federal Spending