'Tea party' cheering rejection of 'Plan B'

BOSTON — BOSTON In the city where a protest over tax policy sparked a revolution, modern day "tea party" activists are cheering the recent Republican revolt in Washington that embarrassed House Speaker John Boehner and pushed the country closer to a "fiscal cliff" that forces tax increases and massive spending cuts on virtually every American.

"I want conservatives to stay strong," says Christine Morabito, president of the Greater Boston Tea Party. "Sometimes things have to get a lot worse before they get better."

Anti-tax conservatives from every corner of the nation echo her sentiment. Activists said they would rather fall off the cliff than agree to a compromise that includes tax increases for any Americans, no matter how high their income.

They dismiss economists' warnings that the automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts set to take effect Jan. 1 could trigger a fresh recession, and they overlook the fact that most people would see their taxes increase if President Barack Obama and Boehner, R-Ohio, fail to reach a year-end agreement.

Republican Party split

The strong opposition among tea party activists and Republican leaders from New Hampshire to Wyoming and South Carolina highlights divisions within the GOP as well as the challenge that Obama and Boehner face in trying to get a deal done.

On Capitol Hill, some Republicans worry about the practical and political implications should the GOP block a compromise designed to avoid tax increases for most Americans and cut the nation's deficit.

"It weakens the entire Republican Party, the Republican majority," Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, said Thursday just after rank-and-file Republicans rejected Boehner's "Plan B" -- a measure that would have prevented tax increases on all Americans but million-dollar earners.

"I mean it's the continuing dumbing down of the Republican Party and we are going to be seen more and more as a bunch of extremists that can't even get a majority of our own people to support policies that we're putting forward," LaTourette said. "If you're not a governing majority, you're not going to be a majority very long."

Day of reckoning

It's a concern that does not seem to resonate with conservatives such as tea party activist Frank Smith of Cheyenne, Wyo. He cheered Boehner's failure as a victory for anti-tax conservatives and a setback for Obama, just six weeks after the president won re-election on a promise to cut the deficit in part by raising taxes on incomes exceeding $250,000.

Smith said his "hat's off" to those Republicans in Congress who rejected their own leader's plan.

"Let's go over the cliff and see what's on the other side," the blacksmith said. "On the other side" are tax increases for most Americans, not just the top earners, though that point seemed lost on Smith, who added: "We have a day of reckoning coming, whether it's next week or next year. Sooner or later the chickens are coming home to roost. Let's let them roost next week."

It's not just tea party activists who want Republicans in Washington to stand firm.

In conservative states such as South Carolina and Louisiana, party leaders are encouraging members of their congressional delegations to oppose any deal that includes tax increases. Elected officials from those states have little political incentive to cooperate with the Democratic president, given that most of their constituents voted for Obama's Republican opponent, Mitt Romney.

"If it takes us going off a cliff to convince people we're in a mess, then so be it," South Carolina GOP Chairman Chad Connelly said. "We have a president who is a whiner. He has done nothing but blame President Bush. It's time to make President Obama own this economy."

In Louisiana, state GOP Chairman Roger Villere said that "people are frustrated with Speaker Boehner. They hear people run as conservatives, run against tax hikes. They want them to keep their word."

Jack Kimball, a former New Hampshire GOP chairman, said he was "elated" that conservatives thwarted Boehner. He called the looming deadline a political creation.

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Rejection of sales tax simply common sense

(PNI) Regarding "Penny-pinchers, pay up" (Letters, Sunday):

The writer has no business being upset with voters for voting against Proposition 204.

When the temporary, 1 percent sales-tax increase was put on the ballot nearly three years ago, we were told the extra revenue was needed to get us through the worst of the recession.

The worst of the recession is now over.

The writer, a teacher, chastises voters as being "penny-pinchers" because they did not vote to increase the sales tax permanently to "help the kids."

If not wanting to give my money to a bureaucracy that continues to hire administrators while laying off teachers makes me a "penny-pincher," then I am guilty as charged.

The schools have plenty of money. They just need to learn how to allocate it appropriately.

-- Cindi Ripple, Peoria

GOP needs big changes

Regarding syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer's column, "GOP just needs to tweak stance on migrants" (Opinions, Tuesday):

I don't believe tweaking its stance on immigration will change future outcomes. Just the word "tweaking" itself implies no real change, just merely how the position is presented.

After years of ridicule and self-deportation talk, I suspect the immigrant community is not going to suddenly change its opinions about the GOP.

Issues such as equal pay for women, repeal of Roe vs. Wade, affordable and available health care will continue to be a burden for the GOP along with gay-rights issues.

In particular, young voters do not respond well to the Republican message on these issues, and as the present older, White voters leave us, this problem will become worse.

If Paul Ryan represents the future of the party, why did he not help Mitt Romney hold his own state of Wisconsin?

Lastly, I don't believe the loss this year was due to a bad candidate but rather a bad message.

If Romney had not been forced by his primary opponents to run so far to the right, he might have won.

If an opposition candidate could not win this year with this message, when could he?

-- James Wick, Scottsdale

President's go-to answer

Do you think if a reporter asked President Barack Obama what he had for lunch yesterday and with whom he dined, his reply would be, "I can't comment because it's under investigation"?

That seems to be his go-to answer for everything these days.

-- Patrica Edwards, Peoria

End the Electoral College

Thank you, Robert Robb, for questioning the validity of the Electoral College in this day and age ("Governmental system built for gridlock" Opinions, Nov. 9).

The "battleground states" are the ones favored by the campaigns, which ignore the others.

Favored by the media, neglecting the concerns and problems of the others, this allows these chosen states to reap the financial benefits of campaigns, media and followers.

I understand the original concept of fairness of the Electoral College, but I believe its relevance has passed.

Let the people decide fully who their choice for president is by popular vote, not a select few areas.

--Steve Palmer,

Cottonwood

GOP must widen its tent

Professor Donald Critchlow identifies Gov. George McGovern's commission to revise Democratic rules for selecting delegates as the origin of today's "polarized politics" ("McGovern Commission changes led to gridlock," Opinions, Saturday).

In revising the way delegates to the Democratic National Convention were chosen, Democrats returned their party to President Abraham Lincoln's vision for America "that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth."

I think President Lincoln meant all the people, not just the well-to-do people. And President Lincoln was a Republican, a smart one.

The Republican Party needs to open its doors and allow democracy to work in our republic.

--Patricia A Klemme,

Phoenix

Obama was a better pick

Thank you for printing Michael Gerson's column, "Better way for GOP than 'woe is me'" (Opinions, Tuesday):

After reading numerous letters from conservatives lamenting the re-election of President Barack Obama, it was a relief to read a realistic assessment of why Mitt Romney lost the election.

I have many friends and family who voted for President Obama, and it is not because we have "the something-for-nothing mentality" touted Tuesday by a letter writer.

We made the choice between two less-than-perfect candidates because we felt more aligned with the Democratic candidate.

Perhaps if conservatives would actually give examples of how the Constitution has been shredded by all the goodies I expect from government and how government is intruding into my life, etc., I could understand why conservatives feel that the sky is falling.

At this point, though, it seems that Rush Limbaugh is correct and we are a "country of children," only it is his own party behaving in that fashion.

-- Jo Ann Ayres, Phoenix

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