Roy Blunt May be Ready to Work with Obama on Tax Increase

One by one, Republican legislators look ready to sell the American people out on taxes. In the middle of the worst economy of my lifetime, it appears the economy is not only going to take the shock from Obamacare in 10 months, but it may also be facing tax increases which are going to make employers even more leery of hiring.

It looks like Roy Blunt once again is ready to join Obama. He has sided with Obama on a few issues like Cash for Clunkers. It appears Roy knows it is time the American people began paying back all those subsidies for new cars and other wasteful, unconstitutional spending that has taken place in Washington.

Think Progress writes of Senator Blunt's plan to work with Obama.


A prominent Republican senator told a local radio station on Friday that he would consider raising marginal tax rates as part of a balanced package of entitlement reforms, going further than most of his colleagues in signaling an openness to increasing taxes on income over $250,000.

During an appearance on KTRS The Big 550 , Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said he would consider allowing President Bush’s tax cuts to expire on higher-end income if Democrats support changes to entitlement programs like Medicare:

Q: Are you open to voting for some type of compromise that would increase marginal tax rates?

BLUNT: I think I’m unlikely to do that. I think if we had real long-term entitlement reform that would offset the negative economic impact of raising tax rates,that’s something to talk about and that’s the deal.

President Obama offered $360 billion in Medicare and Medicaid savings in his FY 2013 budget, including reforming the way government health care programs pay for services to ensure that they reward quality and efficiency and not just quantity of care.

A growing number of Republicans have signalled a willingness to accept increased revenue, but Blunt is one of the few to explicitly leave the door open to raising marginal rates. On Thursday, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) predicted that Republicans in the House would also support such a proposal.

Prediction, Republicans fall for the tax trap like they have done so in the past (See George H.W. Bush) for the promise of future entitlement reform considerations to be debated at a later date due to the urgency of the "fiscal cliff".