Grover Norquist Gives ‘Plan B’ His Blessing
Source: TPM
BRIAN BEUTLER DECEMBER 19, 2012, 1:08 PM
Grover Norquist’s anti-tax advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform is giving House Republicans a pass for voting for House Speaker John Boehner’s so-called “Plan B,” which would lock in the Bush tax cuts for all incomes up to $1 million.
“The House this week will vote on a tax bill,” reads an ATR statement. “This legislation — popularly known as “Plan B” — permanently prevents a tax increase on families making less than $1 million per year. Republicans supporting this bill are this week affirming to their constituents in writing that this bill—the sole purpose of which is to prevent tax increases — is consistent with the pledge they made to them. In ATR’s analysis, it is extremely difficult — if not impossible — to fault these Republicans’ assertion.”
ATR becomes the first major anti-tax group to endorse Boehner’s plan, which has come under heavy fire from other influential groups, including Heritage Action, and Americans for Prosperity. But ATR’s so-called taxpayer protection pledge has been the lodestar for wayward anti-tax Republicans for years. A strict reading of the pledge holds that Republicans will not vote for any legislation that results in an effective tax increase on anybody.
By providing its blessing, ATR reveals that it construes the pledge arbitrarily, given political circumstances. It also follows that if Plan B is consistent with the pledge, so is similar legislation, which passed the Senate earlier this year, to set the threshold for extending the Bush tax cuts at $250,000 in income.
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