The conservative blogosphere was buzzing yesterday and this morning after reports of House Speaker John Boehner supposedly saying Republicans would work with the president to help the economy by raising tax rates. The backlash against Boehner appears to have stemmed from an article on CNBC’s website:
House Speaker John Boehner offered Wednesday to pursue a deal with a victorious President Barack Obama that will include higher taxes “under the right conditions” to help reduce the nation’s staggering debt and put its finances in order.
Many conservatives interpreted this to mean that Boehner was in favor of raising tax rates and quickly piled on him for caving to Democrats:
The day after Obama’s spend, spend, spend, and tax, tax, tax, policies garnered him a second term in the White House, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) offered the president a way to save the economy which included raising taxes “under the right conditions.”
With all due respect to Speaker Boehner, when in the hell are the right conditions to raise taxes?
Our economy is not simply on its last leg but its last knee. We are down, and headed toward down and out if the president continues along the path he’s been on for four years. How in the world can taking even more money out of the America peoples’ paychecks help this situation?
But in the rush to judgment, they overlooked Boehner’s actual remarks, which called for higher tax revenues, not higher tax rates. Blogger RB was among the most vocal conservatives who attempted to set the record straight:
I’d like to reiterate that Boehner DID NOT say he was open to raising taxes. STOP TRUSTING THE MEDIA.
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 8, 2012
@freedom4meGOP @Stranahan It’s a media narrative. They are mischaracterizing what Boehner said to set up the “He re-negged” story.
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 8, 2012
Are you saying that because you don’t like Boehner you are going to believe lies about what he said? @goright
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 8, 2012
NOT TRUE. RT @Mohamed2698: @RBPundit Read this. Boehner Folds, Tax Hikes on Table http://t.co/yrNz875i via @BreitbartNews
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 8, 2012
That’s fine. But we shouldn’t be lying about what he said. @goright
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 8, 2012
@ksbiz @boehner @Mohamed2698 @Stranahan @NathanWurtzel @debwilliams http://t.co/IGyhZzKg He said the exact opposite.
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 8, 2012
Let’s go to the videotape:
Among Boehner’s remarks:
And we certainly won’t solve [the problem of our fiscal imbalance] by simply raising tax rates or taking a plunge off the fiscal cliff.
…
Republicans have signaled a willingness to accept new revenue if it comes from growth and reform.
…
This is why going over part of the fiscal cliff and raising taxes on job creators is no solution at all.
Hey @joelpollak I really hope pushing false stories about Boehner isn’t intentional. This story is FALSE -> http://t.co/ym4zHlXA
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 8, 2012
@SmoosieQ The same way we interpreted it when Ryan said it. Lower rates, economic growth, more tax revenue.
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 8, 2012
@RBPundit Not intentional at ALL. CNBC took Boehner out of context. We are correcting. Tax revenues do not follow from tax rates.
— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) November 8, 2012
Big Government has issued a correction.
Thanks. I was hoping that was the case. @joelpollak
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 8, 2012
In case further clarification was needed, these tweets were sent out from John Boehner’s Twitter account today:
There's no mandate for raising tax rates & doing so would destroy jobs. Need pro-growth tax & entitlement reform #4jobs http://t.co/vcH0bU8K
— John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) November 8, 2012
If there is a mandate, it's for both parties to work together to stop #fiscalcliff w/o raising tax rates, grow economy http://t.co/vcH0bU8K
— John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) November 8, 2012
GOP is willing to talk about new revenue via tax reform IF linked to responsible entitlement reform & spending cuts http://t.co/vcH0bU8K
— John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) November 8, 2012
Ernst & Young says POTUS' #smallbiz tax hike will destroy 700K+ jobs. Raising tax rates is a nonstarter http://t.co/vcH0bU8K
— John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) November 8, 2012
It certainly doesn’t sound like he’s advocating higher tax rates.
We have to get sophisticated about how we market ourselves on the right… pronto. We literally suck at it. This Boehner stuff proves it.
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 8, 2012
RB is exactly right. Now, more than ever, conservatives need to stay on-message and on-point.
And ppl on our side are back to spreading misinfo about what Boehner said. No wonder the media gets away with lying about us so easily.
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) November 8, 2012
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Update:
Twitchy CEO Michelle Malkin reiterated the difference between tax rate increases and revenue increases this morning on “FOX & Friends”:
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