Did the GOP 'blink' on tax cuts for the rich?
House GOP leader John Boehner seems to have agreed to Obama's plan to pass just middle class cuts. Is this fight already over?
The battle over extending the expiring "Bush tax cuts" for the wealthiest Americans was shaping up to be one of the big stories of the midterm campaign, but Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) just changed the narrative. On CBS's "Face the Nation," the House minority leader said that while he'll still "fight to make sure we extend the current tax rates for all Americans," if "the only option I have is to vote for those at $250,000 and below, of course I'm going to do that." Has the big fight already ended in a whimper? (Watch The Week's Sunday Talk Show Briefing about Republicans and tax cuts)
It sure looks like the GOP's caving: "Did Boehner blink? I think so," says Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo. His office claims he's just refuting the "hostage" talking point Obama's been using to cudgel Boehner and the GOP, but "that doesn't make logical sense," or even political sense. Whether he meant to or not, "Boehner gave Obama an opening" to making this midterm a popular referendum on tax breaks for the wealthy.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Boehner's just playing good cop: "Game on," says Don Surber in the Charleston, WV, Daily Mail. When Obama demands we "soak the rich," Boehner's smart to change the subject. He wants to be not just House Speaker, but "de facto president for the last two years of Barack The Unready's reign," and with Congress in reach, he "won't be trapped into looking extremist." That's what his lieutenants are for.
Obama forced the GOP's hand: Republicans knew that Obama would accuse them of holding middle-class tax cuts hostage, says Mark Mardell in BBC News. Boehner's change of position is a way of blunting that charge, but Republicans "can't avoid [it] altogether." Obama seems to have succeeded in "pushing the Republicans into some of sort of bipartisanship while not budging himself."
"Has Obama got his mojo back?"
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Is the Gaza war tearing U.S. campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
DOJ settles with Nassar victims for $138M
Speed Read The settlement includes 139 sexual abuse victims of the former USA Gymnastics doctor
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
14 recent scientific breakthroughs
In Depth From photos of the infant universe to an energy advancement that could save the planet
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published