A number of Republicans in Congress are breaking a pledge against tax increases that has been long standing prior to returning on Monday to Washington. This is to avert the looming fiscal crisis with an agreement that is looking more and more impossible to agree to without tax code changes.
A pledge that is decades old from the group American for Tax Reform has 238 House member signatures and 41 signatures in the Senate in the current Congress. It has essentially become impossible for a GOP member seeking national or statewide office to escape in recent elections, especially in the lower chamber, which is controlled by the Republicans.
Both Senator Lindsey Graham and Peter King a Representative from New York on Sunday said they were going to accept new tax changes by breaking the pledge to help generate additional revenue to lower the federal deficit.
Their two statements followed one that was similar last Thursday by Senator Saxby Chambliss a Georgia Republican. King said he completely agreed with Senator Chambliss when he appeared Sunday on Meet the Press. He said a pledge someone signed 18 to 20 years ago was for that Congress, not today’s. King said the world is different today and the situation with the economy is different.
The Congressman from New York said he opposed increases in taxes but everything needed to be on the table when a deal is brokered by President Obama, Harry Reid the Majority Leader in the Senate and John Boehner the Speaker of the House.
If the White House and Congress fail in reaching a compromise, a mixture of $500 billion in tax increases and federal cuts would take place on January 2.
Leave a Reply