Tea Party conservative Rand Paul, today, proposed what I’ve been saying – Let the Dems have their stupid tax increase so they can unambiguously be the party of high taxes, and when the economy tanks, people will know who to blame.
SEN. RAND PAUL: I have yet another thought on how we can fix this. Why don’t we let the Democrats pass whatever they want? If they are the party of higher taxes, all the Republicans vote present and let the Democrats raise taxes as high as they want to raise them, let Democrats in the Senate raise taxes, let the president sign it and then make them own the tax increase. And when the economy stalls, when the economy sputters, when people lose their jobs, they know which party to blame, the party of high taxes. Let’s don’t be the party of just almost as high taxes.
LARRY KUDLOW, CNBC: Some people have called that the doomsday scenario. Others have said, ‘Look, it’s a strategic retreat on the Republicans’ behalf.’ Would you vote present for that in the Senate if that came up?
RAND PAUL: Yes, I don’t think we have to in the Senate. In the House, they have to because the Democrats don’t have the majority. In the Senate, I’m happy not to filibuster it, and I will announce tonight on your show that I will work with Harry Reid to let him pass his big old tax hike with a simple majority if that’s what Harry Reid wants, because then they will become the party of high taxes and they can own it.
If there’s a better solution than this or “let it burn” (which is not a solution to anything), I’m all ears.
UPDATE:
Krauthammer’s idea may work – but it may not work:
What should Republicans do? Stop giving stuff away. If Obama remains intransigent, let him be the one to take us over the cliff. And then let the new House, which is sworn in weeks before the president, immediately introduce and pass a full across-the-board restoration of the Bush tax cuts.
Obama will counter with the usual all-but-the-rich tax cut — as the markets gyrate and the economy begins to wobble under his feet.
Result? We’re back to square one, but with a more level playing field. The risk to Obama will be rising and the debt ceiling will be looming. Most important of all, however, Republicans will still be in possession of their unity, their self-respect — and their trousers.
Obama may be perfectly happy with going over the cliff with the tax hikes and cuts to the military – and blaming Republicans for the ensuing misery because they wouldn’t work with him.
SEE ALSO:
David Limbaugh: It’s Time To Turn the Tables on this Presidential Bully:
Previously:
Nice Deb 
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Everybody vote ‘present.’
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The media will absolutely cover for the commies no matter what the Republicans do. They would even talk about how the Republicans were in the same building as the commies when it got voted on, so they MAY be to blame as much. The media will go down in flames for the commies because they ARE ALSO commies!
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Note that I am not covering for the commies anymore by calling them democrats or progressives. I see communists, I call them communists. Simple.
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With current republican leadership we might as well surrender now. Watching congress is like watching professional wrestling. It is all for show, the script is written and the fakers are going through the motions.
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I’m beginning the think Rand Paul is right. Just give them what they want and let them own the whole thing as it goes flying off the cliff. See how the country likes the result.
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It’s kind of hard to score any points when the other side knows it wins no matter what happens because the game is rigged. This may be the best way to deal with a bad situation. But instead of voting present, republicans should walk out in protest so the public is clear that the deal was made under duress. I don’t want to see republicans smiling and being good sports about something they know is bad for the country.
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Anyone who has been paying attention for the last several years, all know how this kubuki dance is going to end. No matter how many strings the repubics manage to hold, they always seem to get their brains beat in and out maneuvered by their opponents. Mix in the current repubic leadership[?] and it’s a recipe for certain disaster.
They vote for sunset provisions, sequestration, and negotiate in public before any private meetings with the opposition. They have never learned how to message their agenda, no matter what the issue may be……..taxes, immigration, capitalism, the national debt.
The very last thing this Country needs is another version of the dimocrat party. They are slaughtering all the Conservative and Tea Party members in their caucus. Boehner is going to sell us all out in order to cut a deal. Of that there is little doubt, the writing is on the wall. It is way past time for Conservatives and Tea Party people to move on and form their very own movement, it quite obvious that “we” cannot work within the system or the repubic party with any degree of success.
I agree with Rand, with a slight variation. Pass a Bill in the House keeping or cutting the current rates and send it on the Senate. They will never take a vote on it and it’ll die under Reid’s own doing. Let cheobama jump on BigBird #1 and fly off to Hawaii and be seen body surfing on the beach as the entire Country goes over the cliff, which will cause a certain crash of the market and another downgrade to our credit.
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Well, it doesn’t sound like you agree with Rand at all, then, because his idea would prevent us from going over the fiscal cliff.
It won’t prevent the country from going into a double dip recession/depression, and it won’t prevent the country from melting down in two to four years. Obama has no plan for that. He’s probably looking forward to it.
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That’s the difference in my variation from what Rand said. I agree with Rand that it’s “a really, really bad time to raise taxes”. But there is no serious negotiations going on here, it’s a blackmail, a ransom being held over Boehner and the republics heads. The dims are betting that the Republicans are going to blink first. I say the only way to get too serious negotiations, we have to go over the cliff, while cheobama is seen body surfing or sucking down a Slurpee in Hawaii. It will cause a huge ripple in the economy. Then and only then will a actual negotiation take place. So cheobama and the dims will get what they want, tax hikes and defense cuts, but when everything starts to tank, they’ll come running back looking to negotiate or will resort to the Bill the Republicans sent to Reid before the session ended, or Boehner can call the House back into session early when they have something to work with and originate another Bill.
Sequestration works against some of the dims pet cows also, they are just willing to bet that the Republicans blink first. With Boehner heading our Teams negotiation, I think they are right. After all, the dims got the sunset provision on Taxes [when it was only extended] and sequestration under his watch.
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