Free Republic

Tonight Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) joins us from Washington to fill us in on a possible GOP leadership purge.

Fiscal Policy: Talk of Clinton-era tax rates ignores the fact that the former president, working with a GOP Congress, cut spending as a share of GDP and produced four balanced budgets by focusing on growth, not spending. Even as he pushes $150 billion in new "stimulus" spending, President Obama argues that to avoid the fiscal cliff we must return to Clinton-era tax rates for wealthy households, with a top marginal rate of 39.6% vs. the Bush-era 35%. Clinton's was an age of balanced budgets and economic growth. But it was also an era of budgetary restraint in which both parties,...

Two of the Republican Party’s most promising presidential prospects on Tuesday outlined their vision of a renewed GOP that represents 100 percent of Americans, in an apparent effort to distance themselves from some of the blunders of the party’s most recent presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) both delivered speeches before an audience of influential conservative leaders at the Jack Kemp Foundation’s Leadership Award Dinner. Rubio received this year’s award, while Ryan was last year’s winner. Both lawmakers recalled the economic philosophy championed by Ryan’s mentor Kemp, the...

Mark Levin opines on reports that House Speaker John Boehner is punishing conservative members of his caucus for not following the party line. MARK LEVIN: I've had enough of this crap. This is a member of Congress being treated like crap by the Speaker of the House. Who the hell does the Speaker of the House think he is? This man was elected by his constituents, American citizens in his Congressional district. He's voting the way he pledged to vote to the constituents in his district. Who the hell does John Boehner think he is? He's so desperate for these...

The "fiscal cliff" drama presents opportunities for leadership, which is something the Republican Party naturally seeks, following a difficult election loss. Among those bidding for the leadership of the conservative resistance is Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), who issued a tough statement about House Speaker John Boehner's instantly rejected compromise proposal: Speaker Boehner's $800 billion tax hike will destroy American jobs and allow politicians in Washington to spend even more, while not reducing our $16 trillion debt by a single penny. This isn't rocket science. Everyone knows that when you take money out of the economy, it destroys jobs, and...

Matt Kibbe, president and CEO of FreedomWorks, charged in an exclusive Newsmax TV interview that House Speaker John Boehner and the nation’s GOP leadership are “incredibly hostile” to “fiscal conservatives, who are really the standard-bearers for what it means to be Republican.” “You are for fiscal responsibility. You believe that we shouldn’t raise taxes. You believe that we should balance the budget—and you should believe that you keep your promises that you make on the campaign trail when you come to Washington,” Kibbe says. “It’s damaging to the Republican brand, and you’re seeing this division between those who have maybe...

House Republican leaders used a secret criteria list to decide which conservatives to purge from powerful House committees, Breitbart News has learned. As this time, it appears they will keep the criteria list hidden from the public, too. Spokespeople for members of House GOP leadership have refused to discuss details about the list on the record with press. Because GOP Leadership won't discuss the list, it’s unclear what specific criteria the list contained and how much of a role it played in the conservative purge. It’s also unclear which member of House Republican leadership initiated this process.In remarks to the...

A Republican senator underscored division within his party ranks on Tuesday by opposing a plan by the top Republican to increase tax revenues as part of a possible deal to avert the “fiscal cliff.” Senator Jim DeMint, a favorite of the anti-tax Tea Party movement, said the proposal by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner for $800 billion in increased tax revenues would “destroy jobs and allow Washington politicians” to swell, not reduce, the deficit. …

Over the past few years, there’s been a growing trend of Democrats and their allies in the media using the phrase “new revenue” as a euphemism for tax hikes. As Republicans struggle to find ways to strike a deal with President Obama while claiming to honor their pledges not to raise taxes, they are edging closer to embracing this new terminology. If that happens, it would have dangerous long-term consequences for tax policy. On Monday, House Speaker John Boehner sent a letter to President Obama suggesting the parties strike a deal along the lines of one previously suggested by Erskine...

I’m trying to help a relative get out of a bad fix. He makes $50,000 a year, but Sam has $54,000 (!) of debt on his credit cards. Worse still, he just showed us plans for a $7,500 cruise next year. “Don’t sweat it,” he said, “I still have room on my Visa!” Crazy, right? At our big family dinner last month, several wanted to make Sam see the error of his ways. Being his (favorite) nephew, I tried to gently nudge him to face his problem. When that didn’t work, others called him out directly. By the end of...

Investors should get used to one to two percent economic growth for the foreseeable future, Pimco's Bill Gross told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Tuesday. "We think that the United States is in a one to two percent growth environment going forward and investors should get used to it" as structural challenges keep growth in check, the Pimco co-founder and co-chief investment officer said. Earlier Tuesday, Gross released his final investment letter for 2012, where he continued to warn about slower economic growth due to ongoing structural challenges such as high debt levels, a slower growing China and an aging workforce.

...and Boehner is off to a bad start.

(Washington, D.C.) U.S. Congressman Paul Broun, M.D. (GA-10) today released the following statement in reaction to President Obama’s dismissal of Republican efforts to provide a solution to the looming fiscal cliff: “Democrats have basically told Republicans to either raise taxes, or go to hell,” said Broun. “Forcing us to choose between hurting families and small businesses or going off the fiscal cliff is not only counter-productive – it simply doesn’t make sense for righting our nation’s fiscal crisis. The Democrats’ math just doesn’t add up; there is no way to tax our way out of this mess. Even if they...

US President Barack Obama has said in an interview that he would consider lowering top tax rates as part of a wider reform of the tax code in 2013. The White House also signalled that it might agree to increase taxes for the wealthiest earners to less than 39.6%. Spokesman Jay Carney left open the option that rates would not have to rise to that Clinton-era level. Lawmakers are deadlocked in efforts to avert steep spending cuts and tax rises due to take effect on 1 January. Mr Carney said the "major obstacle" in reaching an agreement was a Republican...

Arguments that appeal to reason rarely appeal to emotion. Nor do they appeal to uninformed voters who are not interested. Can we have better informed and more rational voters? Democrats realize that rational thought does not appeal to many voters and Republicans have yet to understand that emotional appeals beat rational appeals. Even when they try emotional appeals they rarely work because they don't do a good job of it; their efforts are quickly and effectively shoved aside. On Sunday, I received an appeal from Stephanie Cutter of the Obama-Biden campaign. Here's the gist of it: Friend -- I hope...

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s opening bid to Speaker John Boehner, a demand for $1.6 trillion in new taxes, was not meant as a serious offer. It was an ultimatum couched in an insult. Translation: “We won the election. We have the whip hand. Not only are you going to sign on to higher tax rates and higher tax revenues, we are going to rub your Tea Party noses in your coming capitulation.” That Boehner did not throw the offer back in Geithner’s face and tell him, “Give me a call, Tim, when you’re serious,” suggests that the speaker feels he...

Are we really headed for disaster if Congress and the president fail to come to an agreement over taxes and budget cuts before the first of the year? Some economists dispute that notion. New York Times: ******* While data on the tax status of all stockholders is hard to come by, many economists agree than an increasing proportion of the entire equities market is now held by retirement investors whose holdings are not subject to current tax law; by foreign investors who don't pay American taxes, or by institutional investors like insurance companies and pension funds that are exempt from...

The Boehner Fiscal Offer Dec 4, 2012 | Author: Daniel Horowitz Here are two things to keep in mind with regards to Boehner’s budget offer. First, when you begin negotiations agreeing to 60% of the demands of the other side and fail to offer a bold contrast on the other 40%, you are headed for an outcome that is 80-90% favorable to your opponent. Second, when you need to outsource your budget plan and entire view of government to Democrat Erskine Bowles, you are relegating yourself and your party to irrelevancy. John Boehner and other House GOP leaders have offered...

Some commentators wonder why President Obama always engages in brinksmanship. Why can't he meet Republicans halfway, like Clinton did, they ask. Let me try to respond. One blogger suggests that Obama prefers to play chicken, taking the nation right to the edge of a fiscal disaster because it will increase the likelihood that the GOP will cave. Perhaps, but there's more to it. Many of us warned that Obama is not, by nature or ideology, a conciliator. He is not a centrist, and he's not someone who is interested in the other side's ideas. He knows what he wants to...

Democrats have said that that their priorities when it comes to a fiscal cliff deal are to raise more tax revenue and make the tax code more progressive. Which is why it's odd to see them drawing a line in the sand on raising tax rates. Raising marginal income tax rates is one of the most economically harmful ways to raise taxes. (The only provisions of the tax code that are more damaging are the corporate income tax and taxes on savings and investments.) Perhaps the only explanation is that Democrats don't actually care about how to efficiently accomplish their...