The Club for Growth is holding fast to its conservative positions, even if that causes a split with mainstream Republicans.
It fought to kill House Speaker John Boehner’s “Plan B” proposal to resolve the fiscal cliff and was successful. The group didn’t like the plan’s tax increases and argued that the spending cuts in it weren’t real.
Club for Growth president Chris Chocola says the fiscal cliff debate will help determine whether the group supports primary opponents against GOP incumbents in 2014.
“If we do things that make people uncomfortable or angry, that’s OK. But if we do things that surprise people, that’s not ok,” Chocola told
Politico. “Members of Congress understand what we do and why we do it. The fact that we watch these races, I think, has a positive impact on their voting patterns. I think that the discussion or the votes taken during the whole fiscal cliff and debt ceiling debates will be instructive. I think they will give context to the primary season.”
The Club has faced criticism for some losing candidates that it has backed, but Chocola noted that it also supported Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz when they had few other backers.
Some other conservative groups agree with the Club on the fiscal cliff. “The worst thing that Republicans can do is raise taxes,” Freedomworks President Matt Kibbe said Friday, according to The Hill. “If Obama wants to raise taxes, he can do that. But Republicans shouldn’t give him cover. If Obama wants to go over the cliff, let him own that.”
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