Obama: No Bipartisanship Without Tax Increases

Obama: No Bipartisanship Without Tax Increases

This morning on CBS’ Face the Nation, President Obama made clear that the centerpiece of his entire presidential campaign will be his Ahab-like quest to raise Americans’ taxes. Last year, Republicans signaled they were willing to raise some taxes in order to cut the deficit, so long as Obama agreed to spending cuts; Obama sunk that deal at the last minute by insisting in hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes to which Republicans had not agreed.
Scott Pelley of CBS called Obama on his nonsense:

OBAMA: What I’ve said in reducing our deficits – we can make sure that we cut 2.5 dollars for every dollar of increased revenue.

PELLEY: That’s the deal they turned down.

OBAMA: That’s part of what this election is about. Gov. Romney said he wouldn’t take a deal for $10 in spending cuts for $1 of revenue increases.

But the same day that Obama cited Romney’s unwillingness to raise taxes in a deal to cut spending, Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan told ABC’s This Week that he’d consider at $10 to $1 spending cut to tax increases deal. “It depends on the quality f the policy,” he said. “Our negotiators in the supercommittee offered higher revenues through tax reform. John Boehner did as well. So George, what really matters to me is not ratios but what matters is the quality of the policy.”

Ryan didn’t endorse such a deal, because it hadn’t been offered. “There’s no deal to walk away from,” he said. “The point is, you’re not giving me a deal to look at. You’re giving me ratios … Our problem is not that we are overtaxed. We are overtaxed. Our problem is we spend too much money.” (Emphasis added)