December 28, 2012 by David K. Sutton
The “Fiscal Cliff” Tells Us Two Things About Republicans
All the dire language about the fiscal cliff tells us two things about Republicans.
1. Republicans say the economy is bad at least in part because the federal government is spending too much money. But when it comes to talk about the “fiscal cliff” they have changed their tune. Now they believe the economy will be harmed by the automatic spending cuts which kick in January 1, 2013. I touched on this point a few weeks ago saying that Republicans believe “the federal deficit and the debt hurt the economy, and so that is the reason we must have entitlement reform.” But once those cuts affect things that they care about, like defense spending, suddenly the economic impact is real. So I guess this means when it comes to padding the pockets of defense contractors, the economic impact would be too great. But when it comes to millions of poor and middle class Americans? Not so much.
2. Republicans care more about giving tax cuts to people who don’t need tax cuts. Alright, this one was plainly obvious. I’m not saying Republicans want to raise taxes on the poor and middle class, but they show markedly less concern for tax increases for those at the bottom of the ladder. Republicans won’t even accept a plan that would only raise taxes on people with income over one million, but they are fine with letting the payroll tax cut expire. And I believe most Republicans are fine with going off the “fiscal cliff” because it allows them to blame President Obama for the biggest tax hike in history and then vote to cut taxes in the new year.
Republicans think Americans are stupid, and unfortunately I think they could be right on this point.