Boehner walked out over revenues that DON'T violate the Norquist pledge! Can the Rs continue to defend

[ProgressiveEconomist]

Boehner walked out over revenues that DON'T violate the Norquist pledge! Can the Rs continue to defend their position?

221 of the 240 House Republicans have signed Grover Norquist's pledge not to raise taxes. But this week, Norquist issued an important clarification of the pledge: Letting the 2001 and 2003 rate cuts for the very wealthy expire at the end of 2012 would NOT violete the pledge! (See, for example, http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/07/22/norquist-defines-a-tax-increase/?mod=google_news_blog )

NBC White House correspondent Kelly O'Donnell just reported on Hardball that Speaker Boehner walked out of debt ceiling talks with the White House over a demand from the President that $40 billion a year in revenues be raised by not renewing Dubya's income tax cuts for the very wealthy.

Thus Boehner walked out over revenues that Norquist says do NOT violate his tax pledge!

Can Republicans continue to defend this position? IMO, the title of this thread makes a memorable summary for voters of blame for failure to cut the deficit and shore up the US credit rating.

What do YOU think?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

1. Thank you, anonymous recommender.

[indepat]

2. Cockle-warming that over 90% of Republican congress-critters march to the beat

of Norquist's drum. These effin' fanatics are a clear and present danger to the Republic. :patriot:

[ProgressiveEconomist]

3. IMO Norquist simply encapsulated a generation of Republican "starve the beast"

dogma. The genesis of the idea of focusing Republican negativity on revenues rather than spending didn't start with Norquist--some attribute it to evil genius Alan Greenspan--see http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1449753

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. Thank you, additional anonymous raters, for putting this thread on the Greatest page

[no_hypocrisy]

5. You always have the option of heading for the door when your bluff is called.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

6. That's true for a private game of poker, but what it the whole world is watching

and deciding who's the best player to vote for?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

7. On Keith's Countdown tonight, TPM's Brian Beutler reported the rest of revenues

Boehner was willing to allow were very "squishy"--unspecified future revenues from increased economic growth, with any near-term loophole closures offset by cuts in tax rates.

IMO, that sounds as though Rs were trying to claim credit for any future cyclical increase in tax revenues, while blaming Obama for all recent counter-cyclical spending triggered by a Republican-caused recession!

The truth is that, just like cyclical increases in tax revenues as economies come off business-cycle bottoms, most counter-cyclical spending increases are AUTOMATIC. It was George Bush's weak job-creation policies and literally letting big banks regulate themselves that led inevitably to more foodstamps, increased reliance on medicaid, and other Federal recession spending, NOT anything President Obama did.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

8. IMO Rs are doing everything they can to keep economic growth low through next November

Their alleged "extra tax breaks for job creators" in 2001 and 2003 engendered the slowest job-creation in decades. Their "self-regulation" philosphy for big banks turned them into casino speculators who went bust in 2007-8 and took the global economy with them. They opposed and cut back every stimulus measure from the White House, including especially measures targeting ACTUAL job creators. Even though most Rs know quite well stimulus spending has been required to turn around EVERY recession since the '20s, they ginned up a media firestorm about deficits at the bottom of the business cycle, keeping the economy in bad trouble through the next election. Finally. they demand even MORE alleged "extra tax breaks for job creators" and even LESS regulation of financial flim-flam. And millions of voters are so ignorant they're with the Republican doomsday strategy all the way!

[ProgressiveEconomist]

9. Kick!

[ProgressiveEconomist]

10. Kick!