Rumblings today indicate the Senate may vote on a plan which makes the Bush tax rates permanent for those earning less than $500,000 (keeps the sequester, does little else to spending).
If Speaker Boehner brings that plan to the floor of the House. it may pass–but it would likely cost Boehner his speakership.
Here’s why the House won’t pass anything tonight:
- Speaker Boehner lost 35-50 GOP votes on “Plan B” (extends cuts for incomes less than $1 million). He will lose upwards of 60 GOP votes if he brings up this potential Senate compromise.
- To pass the Senate bill, he’ll need Democrats’ support–lots of it. By pushing through a compromise which excludes conservative support, Speaker Boehner would alienate his caucus even more than he did with Plan B. Ever since the Plan B fiasco, Boehner has run away from any deal discussions for this exact reason.
- Conservatives in the House can hold up Boehner’s election with just 17 votes on the House floor. More than that number already are considering abandoning Boehner, and a Boehner-Reid-Obama compromise would further hurt his chances.
- Speaker Boehner can ‘run out the clock’ by waiting to vote on a deal until after his January 3 election. This is his safest route.
Conservatives don’t want to throw anyone off the proverbial cliff tonight–including the nation’s largest employers. A deal which attacks entrepreneurs, while doing nothing to stop our impending debt crisis, just ensures young Americans will remain jobless and inherit trillions in tax hikes to pay the annual debt interest payments.
We recommend Speaker Boehner pass a clean extension of all tax rates as soon as possible to put pressure on the Democrats tonight–preferably before the Senate passes their bill. While the House passed a plan earlier this year, passing a new bill with just the tax rates (not spending cuts, etc.) would give Democrats fewer reasons to be able to oppose this last-minute, economy-saving proposal.
