Report: Boehner Caves on Tax Increases for High Income Earners

By Jennifer Burke
TPNN Contributor

In a move that is sure to anger conservative Republicans and the tea party movement, Reuters is reporting that Speaker John Boehner offered a tax hike on high income earners beginning January 1st to President Obama in exchange for entitlement reform. Politico is reporting that the deal offered by Boehner will not include an extension of unemployment benefits nor would it include a raising of the debt ceiling, both of which are unwavering demands by Obama and the Democrats. Obama has reportedly turned the deal down.

This report is counter to what Boehner has been stating to the media over the past few weeks and comes on the heels of the No New Taxes press conference held by TheTeaParty.net, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Congressmen Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Paul Broun (R-GA), John Fleming (R-LA), Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), and numerous other tea party leaders. At this press conference, these conservative leaders stated adamantly that they would not support any tax increases on the American people. Each had previously taken made a promise to their constituents to not raise taxes by signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge through Americans for Tax Reform.

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), who recently announced that he will be resigning from his Senate seat to become president of the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, stated on Thursday that Boehner should be worried about losing the speakership. This newest report will likely increase talk regarding whether his speakership is in jeopardy.

Jay Severin, from TheBlaze, asked DeMint whether Republicans had a plan B in place just in case Obama did win re-election. According to DeMint, there was no such preparation on the part of the GOP.

“We have not had that plan you talked about,” DeMint said. “We can’t keep playing defense all the time, negotiating with ourselves, allowing the president to not have a plan.”

Republicans need to stop conceding on their values and conducting backdoor negotiations, DeMint said.

“The house should have passed a bill that we thought was best for the country, and probably should have gone home during this lame duck,” DeMint said on the failure to still not have a solution for the debt and Fiscal Cliff. ”It’s important in a political sphere to back up what you say, It’s really about power–whether we like it or not.”

Back in 2009, President Obama stated that raising taxes during a recession is the last thing you would want to do. The economy is even more unstable and fragile now than it was then. Which begs the question….what will truly be accomplished by raising taxes on high income earners? For an answer to this question, one only needs to turn to the answer that then candidate Obama gave during a debate between Democrat candidates for president in 2008. When reminded of the fact that raising capital gains taxes has historically resulted in decreased revenue while the lowering of it resulted in increased revenue, Obama’s response left many perplexed. He stated, “It’s not about revenue; it’s about fairness.”

We must not forget that response by the man who would become president as it gives tremendous insight into his view of taxation. Regardless of what he states now, it is not about deficit reduction nor is it about increased revenue. In fact, it is not even about fairness because we have 47% of the population that pays no income tax. It is about control, government intrusion, and furthering his class warfare ideology that’s rooted in Marxism. That, my friends, is a dangerous thing and the GOP must stand strong against it.