If House Speaker John Boehner is to be taken at his word, it looks as if the Republicans under his wing are not looking to change their ways. Mr. Boehner recently declared that, while he'd be open to finding additional sources of revenue, tax increases would still be off the table, even for the uber-wealthy:
Here are two items that he and his cohorts should be considering:
1. While the Republicans did maintain control of the House,
they did not receive a popular mandate. Just shy of 115
million votes were cast for members of the House nation-
wide, with Democratic candidates prevailing by a margin
of well over a million.
Because the majority of state capitols are dominated by
Republicans, they were able to rejigger congressional
district boundaries to favor their candidates in the wake
of the 2010 census. Otherwise, there's a chance that
the Democrats might have recaptured the House.
2. Numerous surveys, including the NBC/Washington Post
poll, indicate that an overwhelming majority of those
sampled believe that the wealthiest households should
pay their fair share of taxes.
Even some of the most conservative media voices, William Kristol for one, are suggesting that it's time to consider raising taxes for those who can most afford to pay them. Now that Grover Norquist's luster seems to be wearing thin, will Mr. Boehner and his congressional colleagues wake up and smell the coffee?
Stay tuned.
As I mentioned a couple of weeks back, Grover is almost over. Prominent Republicans have publicly stated they will no longer be bound by the Pledge (-shades of HUAC!)
ReplyDeleteOf course the richest should contribute more:
(1) They made their fortunes in the U.S., and
(2) The hit (taxes) will be felt less.
A good post here.