Debt Ceiling Madness Goes to the Wire
Watching the soul-destroying debate about the debt ceiling is depressing and infuriating. The Republican Party is deeply in thrall to the farthest right Tea Party elements, and they’re demanding ideological purity right up to the brink of disaster: Boehner says his plan’s deficit committee will not raise taxes.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday rejected criticism that his newly revealed two-step deficit plan would allow for the creation of a committee likely to raise taxes.
“It’s going to be pretty hard for the committee to [raise taxes],” Boehner said, promising that if the panel brought a solution that included raising taxes to the House, the Republican majority would vote it down.
Boehner’s plan would allow for a short-term $1 trillion immediate raise in the debt ceiling and the formation of a committee, composed of 12 members appointed by the leadership of both chambers of Congress, that would recommend spending cuts to Congress.
“Some people” are concerned that raising taxes would result from forming the committee, Boehner said on conservative Rush Limbaugh’s radio show.
Frank says: