GOP: Read Their Lips No New Taxes - Except For The Middle Class

Daddy Bush was crucified by the GOP faithful when he reneged on his infamous pledge: Read My Lips, No New Taxes.

The GOP has successfully branded the Democrats as the Tax and Spend Party.

The GOP/Tea Party threatened to drive our economy off the cliff if there were any new revenues in the Debt Ceiling compromise.

The GOP/Tea Party fought tooth and nail for the extension of the Bush tax cut for the wealthiest of the wealthiest.

Virtually all GOP lawmakers have signed the no-tax-hike pledge authored by Grover Norquist.

So it would be safe to say the GOP/Tea Party hates taxes.
So it would be safe to say the GOP/Tea Party have never seen a tax they like.

Wrong. As Flava Flav used to say, Don't Believe the Hype:

GOP may OK tax increase that Obama hopes to block

WASHINGTON (AP) — News flash: Congressional Republicans want to raise your taxes.

Impossible, right? GOP lawmakers are so virulently anti-tax, surely they will fight to prevent a payroll tax increase on virtually every wage-earner starting Jan. 1, right?

Apparently not.

Many of the same Republicans who fought hammer-and-tong to keep the George W. Bush-era income tax cuts from expiring on schedule are now saying a different "temporary" tax cut should end as planned. By their own definition, that amounts to a tax increase.

The tax break extension they oppose is sought by President Barack Obama. Unlike proposed changes in the income tax, this policy helps the 46 percent of all Americans who owe no federal income taxes but who pay a "payroll tax" on practically every dime they earn.

There are other differences as well, and Republicans say their stand is consistent with their goal of long-term tax policies that will spur employment and lend greater certainty to the economy.

"It's always a net positive to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn," says Rep. Jeb Hensarling, "but not all tax relief is created equal for the purposes of helping to get the economy moving again." The Texas lawmaker is on the House GOP leadership team.

The debate is likely to boil up in coming weeks as a special bipartisan committee seeks big deficit reductions and weighs which tax cuts are sacrosanct. read more