You have to feel for John Boehner. All the self-appointed conservative pundits -- Peggy Noonan, Bill Kristol, etc., are telling Boehner to give up on holding the line on tax rates. What happened to the argument that higher tax rates means slower economic growth? Did the laws of economics suddenly get suspended to accommodate the political situation?
Raising tax rates in the midst of a sluggish economy is absurd policy. Only a clueless President would suggest such a path. Unfortunately Republicans are now climbing all over themselves to jump on the "higher tax rates" bandwagon. If successful, many more Americans will be faced with a much more limited economic future. Is politics worth this?
So, Boehner keeps offering up one compromise after another -- mostly, one suspects, to appease his own troops who are running for cover.
It looks like Republicans may end up providing cover for Obama as they join hands to raise taxes and increase spending. They never learn.
So what are the Republicans going to run on in 2014, having given away the smaller government, lower taxes argument?
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