I think that the GOP leadership has been around long enough to know that the tax reform laws need to be complete before passage, including BOTH tax increases and spending cuts. Increasing taxes now for future spending cuts is a non-starter. Lets take a quick poll how you would vote in Congress or the Senate...
Case in point....1986.....Congress passed amnesty for the illegals and were going to follow up with controlling the borders. Well half of it got passed....then they just walked away from the other half.
Didn't the democrats promise Reagan they would cut spending if he raised taxes? He did, they didn't, we've seen this movie before.
The next debate/poll will be who gains/loses if/when we go over the fiscal cliff. I've heard it argued both ways today. The dems say that the GOP would suffer in 2014... The GOP says that the dems will be blamed since its on their watch....
2 points: 1. What happens to the GOP if they cave on tax hikes without getting enough real spending cuts? I think they could live with revenue increases, maybe even a tax rate increase on those making over a mil. Not 20k, a million dollars. Bu they've gotta get substantial spending cuts in exchange. 2. What happens to Obama's legacy is we go over the fiscal cliff and the economy goes into recession?
Trust the government to keep its word or promises? They count on stupid being in play both at the ballot box and now. Sadly too many Americans make it too damn easy.
1. The dems were talking about $3 in cuts for each $1 in tax increases, now when its time to actually draft the legislation, they are whining like stuck pigs. We were notified today that our take-home pay will be less when the reduced withholding rate expires. We heard all this whining before in 1993, what happened when we balanced the Budget was prosperity. 2. Two options, a short recession or a "speed bump" is not a problem. If the US fiscal mess gets improved, the stock market will boom first, then the economy will boom. The US is still the best place in the world to invest.
Obama will own Tax hikes, and the pains that will come with them. If we don't reign in our reckless entitlement spending America is doomed to end up like Greece and the dollar will be worthless.