Op-ed:

Plan B...dead before it even gets voted on

Diane Sori

“Now it is up to the president to avoid the fiscal cliff” said Speaker of the House John Boehner as he watched, in what amounts to a vote of 'NO confidence,' his 'Plan B Tax Proposal' go down the drain as it did NOT even make it to vote.

The simple truth is that Boehner couldn't garner support from his own party for the budget deal he chipped out with Obama. And why...because Republicans ran on a platform of NO new taxes NOT only on those making over $1million per year but NO new taxes on anyone, and Boehner reneged on that promise just to avoid a fiscal cliff that doesn't even really exist. Remember, what everyone calls the fiscal cliff is really only an extension of the payment plan to those we owe our country's financial survival to.

And while this week it appeared that the two sides seemed to be closing in on a deal, when push came to shove the House Republicans refused to raise taxes, and they need to be applauded for that. Confronted with a revolt within the party, the bill was scrapped without being voted on even though NO bill being passed threatens to send the economy into recession.

And what Obama and the Democrats still don't get...or worse yet don't care to get...is that in a time of economic stagnation with another recession a strong possibility is that cutting taxes or at least NOT raising them would help boost the economy, boost employment, and increase revenue to the federal government to reduce the deficit. But when you have a president and a party fixated on class warfare what's good for the country takes a backseat to petty jealousy and partisan politics.

Obama is NOT happy about this rejection as he claims he made concessions to Boehner to get it passed...however, at best they were concessions in name only, a public dog and pony show, because even before details of Plan B had been released to the public, Obama and 'Prince Harry' had already decided the legislation was going nowhere. Remember, these two are determined to raise taxes...solving the out of control spending problem be damned.

And even Obama saying he'd only raise taxes on those making over $400,000 per year instead of his originally wanted $200,000, the House Republicans were still NOT biting. And the bottom line is that even if Boehner sold Plan B to the Republicans in the House, the Democrats weren't even willing to consider it because they believe it would end some tax cuts for the middle class while preserved tax breaks for millionaires. Remember, the Democrats campaigned on keeping taxes lower for those with incomes of less than $250,000.

The Republicans knew this plan was NO good, because they knew that if enacted the taxes on those with incomes above $1 million would have risen from 35% to 39.6%...quite unfair to those who are the job creators. And by giving into Obama on this Boehner dealt himself a blow that might cost him his position as Speaker for the reality is that Boehner caved on a core value of the Republican Party...NO tax increases.

So now while Obama jets off to Hawaii for his very expensive Christmas vacation on our taxpayer dime, he must decide if he's even willing to make any concessions to Republicans to achieve a broader budget deal. And you know what, he doesn't have to as many sellout RINO Republicans have said they are willing to raise taxes as part of a deal to cut spending.

So now with Plan B having gone down the drain, the whole ball of wax changes after January 1, when Obama's tax rate increases automatically go into effect causing any further debate NOT to be about raising taxes but about lowering them.

But the question is...what happens now?

There are two possibilities...one is that we go over the fiscal cliff and income taxes go up on everyone, with some of the very unwise fiscal cliff spending cuts starting to kick in, along with the end of the Bush-era tax cuts expiring.

And the other is that Boehner can still cut a deal with the White House, and he doesn’t need unified Republican support to do it. If Boehner and Obama agree on a deal, then Boehner can pass it on a bipartisan basis with a large number of votes from House Democrats. But that would cost him his position as Speaker which comes up for vote again early in 2013.

So no matter which possibility happens, the bottom line is 'We the People' get screwed yet again because either way taxes will go up as Obama and his cronies continue to implode our economy from within.