That is the question of this Wall Street Journal article:
Two decades after President George H.W. Bush abandoned his “read my lips” promise, some Republicans are chafing at their party’s stand against new taxes.
A few prominent GOP lawmakers believe they will have to raise some tax revenue if they are to bring Democrats along on a bipartisan compromise to address the U.S.’s long-term fiscal problems. Many Democrats want higher taxes to cover at least part of future budget gaps. That has led to clashes between Republican lawmakers and a Washington advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform, the self-appointed keeper of the party’s anti-tax flame.
Grover Norquist, the group’s president, said he has “sent up a flare” against placing trust in Democrats, given how bipartisan agreements, including the one struck by then-President Bush in 1990, eventually unraveled. Those tax increases took effect as scheduled, but Democrats didn’t always deliver on promised spending cuts, Mr. Norquist said…
Which is precisely the case. Remember, we’re dealing on the other side with President Obama and Senator Reid – these two men will flat out lie through their teeth in order to get GOP cover on a tax increase designed, above all, to dispirit the GOP base in advance of 2012. They’ll promise Republicans the Moon on spending cuts if the GOP will agree to a tax increase…and then they’ll just refuse to deliver after taking the tax hike. We’re dealing with people who will relentlessly lie in order to advance their own power and wealth – so, no, we can’t make a deal which includes a tax hike.
Fight it out on spending – there is no constituency in the broader American electorate looking for a tax hike. Sure, you can find polls which say a majority supports raising taxes on this or that rich group to close the deficit…but no one will vote against you because you refused to hike taxes. It just won’t happen – not now, not ever. There is, however, a very large constituency who will murder people at the polls for refusing to cut spending…its called the GOP base, and the GOP can’t win in 2012 unless it is united and enthusiastic. The thing which is most likely to kill both unity and enthusiasm is a Rose Garden signing ceremony where a beaming Obama signs off on a bill which includes a tax hike. Spending, spending, spending – that is where the battle is, and that is where the election of 2012 will be won: on fighting government spending.
Don’t be fools – and, yes, I know that “don’t be fools” can often be translated as “don’t be a GOP Congressional leader” – don’t fall for the siren song of Big Government types who insist that any part of the problem is lack of revenue. Total federal revenues in 2011 will come in at around $2.2 trillion – we spent just a bit less than that in 2005, a mere 6 years ago, and not a year noted for budget restraint. The problem isn’t on the revenue side; it is all on the spending side. And it is high time that all GOPers learned this and stopped being such fools as to think that a tax hike worked out with Democrats will help America or the GOP.
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