House Republicans spent Thursday moving toward passage of what being called Plan B. That’s the compromise plan offered by House Speaker John Boehner that would raise taxes only on Americans earning more than one million dollars per year.
Even after House passage, the plan faces a very uncertain future since Senate Democrats refuse to consider it and President Obama has said he would veto it if the plan ever reached his desk.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul sees Republicans effectively trapped in these negotiations. He says the only choice left for the GOP is whether to insist on the best solutions that will be rejected by Democrats and lead the nation over the fiscal cliff or accept some tax hikes to preserve lower rates for well over 99 percent of taxpayers.
“The Republican message needs to be and should continue to be that we’re for lower taxes, not raising taxes on anyone, that it’s bad for the economy to raise taxes,” said Sen. Paul.
So does that mean that Paul would oppose Plan B if it were allowed to come before the U.S. Senate? Not exactly.
“To tell you the truth I have mixed feelings on it,” said Paul. “The literal nature of the vote will be that preserve tax rates for most people. In all reality, I might vote ‘yes’ on it.”
Paul says the sad reality is that Democrats have painted Republicans into a corner and taxes will go up no matter what.
“We’re trapped. The tax rates are going up if we do nothing. I would just as soon protect everybody, but if I’m only given the option of protecting some people, it’s going to be hard for me to vote ‘no’ on protecting some people,” said Paul.
But the senator is offering no illusions. He says whatever happens will damage the economy and will make another recession more likely.
“Nothing really good is going to come from this. Taxes will go up. It will be bad for the economy and I think it will lead to more job loss. I think raising the tax rates may lead to less revenue as well. So I don’t think anything good comes of this,” said Paul. “This on top of the Obamacare taxes, on top of the Obamacare regulations, the Dodd-Frank regulations. It’s a recipe for a recession. It’s a huge mistake. I really think six months from now everyone will be regretting that we allowed the president to raise taxes.”
Paul is also not happy with the very limited opportunity for most lawmakers to influence the debate or even their own leaders.
“I would say the average senator over here has zero impact on what’s going to come up for a deal. So that’s another reason we’re kind of in a box. We don’t get to vote for anything we want to vote for. We’re going to vote for whatever big, nasty package comes over,” said Paul.