John Boehner Implies Raising Taxes On the Middle Class Instead of the Wealthy

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Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 12:17 am

On Fox News Sunday, John Boehner said it doesn’t matter where new revenue comes from, but he ruled out raising taxing on the rich, which leaves the poor and middle class to foot the bill.

Here is a transcript of the exchange between Chris Wallace and John Boehner on Fox News Sunday,

CHIRS WALLACE: You talked about the fact that the President won and you came out with a concession the day after the election and they point out that the president campaigned on raising tax rates, you know, and it was the big issue, between him and Romney, and, they say, just as he had to cave, after your victory, in the 2010 midterms, now, it is your turn to cave on tax rates.

JOHN BOEHNER: Listen, what is this difference where the money comes from? We put $800 billion worth of revenue, which is what he is asking for, out of eliminating the top two tax rates. But, here’s the problem, Chris, when you go and increase tax rates, you make it more difficult for our economy to grow, after that income, the small business income, it is going to get taxed at a higher rate and as a result we’re gonna see slower economic growth, we can’t cut our way out of this problem, nor can we grow our way out of the problem, we have to have a balanced approach and what the President wants to do will slow or economy at a time when he says he wants the economy to grow and create jobs.

What Boehner was implying here was the Romney/Ryan tax plan. There aren’t enough loopholes to be closed in order to generate the revenue need, and if taxes aren’t going to be raised on the wealthy, who is going to pick up the tab? Some House Republicans are suggesting that we adopt Ryan’s plan of putting a cap on deductions, which would absolutely destroy the incentive for charitable giving.

Related clip from the same interview of Boehner talking tough on the fiscal cliff:

The reality is that does matter where the money comes from. The past decade of Bush tax cuts for the wealthy has demonstrated that lowering taxes at the top does not spur economic growth, but raising taxes on the middle class could cripple the economy. The Clinton administration is proof of the kind of growth that can be accomplished by raising taxes at the top and lowering them for everyone else.

Contrary to Republican belief, what Obama is proposing is not some untested theory. What the president is proposing has been proven to work. The tax plan that Republicans are advocating is based on ideological belief system, not economic fact.

The idea of extending tax cuts for the wealthy, while raising taxes on the middle class was already rejected by the voters less than a month ago at the polls. If this is their position, the GOP isn’t just running towards the fiscal cliff, they are committing political suicide by jumping off.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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