Speaker John Boehner, devotee of Grover Norquist. (Larry Downing/Reuters)
Let this be a lesson to the
60 House Democrats who signed on to a
stupid letter with 40 Republican colleagues to the Super Congress, calling for some kind of "grand bargain." They showed their willingness to slash entitlements, for what? Tax increases?
Yeah, right.
(Reuters)—House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday a deficit-reduction deal being negotiated in the Congress could have revenue increases but "there clearly is a limit." [...]
Boehner said he opposes income tax increases, and an aide made clear that higher revenues could come in the form of government land and other asset sales, fee increases and higher co-pays for healthcare. [...]
"I do think there is room for revenues, but there clearly is a limit to the revenues that may be available," Boehner told reporters.
Boehner said that without reform of Medicare and other benefits programs, it would be hard for Republicans to put any revenues on the table.
Let's just be clear here. No taxes. And that's gutting Medicare "and other benefits programs" before putting any revenues on the table, including those he says they might consider. New taxes and tax increases are off. Period. The Republican leader says so. Only if Democrats agree to shredding the safety net will they consider revenue, like the one-time fire sale of public lands (which is worse than useless, since it can provide any sustained revenue because once it's sold, it's gone) and making the 99 percent pay more for everything from visits to national parks to health care.
That's Boehner's version of compromise, and all that can be expected from Republicans, and all that we could ever expect from them. Maybe, eventually, D.C. Democrats will learn that.