President Barack Obama is pointing a pistol at Republicans telling them that they will be responsible for higher taxation on all Americans if they fail to agree to a hike for the wealthiest, Pat Buchanan claimed Tuesday.
“This is extortion,” the former presidential senior adviser wrote in an Op-Ed for
RealClearPolitics.
“Why are Republicans negotiating this capitulation?” he asked.
“Republicans are being told that they either vote for something they believe to be wrong and ruinous — or get something worse. Pay the ransom, fellas, Obama is demanding, or take the blame for a second recession.”
But he said any Republican who caves to the White House’s demands will pay a high price. “They will sever themselves permanently from much of the base of the party,” he warned.
“Then, if the tax hikes slow the economy, Republican collaborators will share the blame. Not only will they have gone back on their word, they will have damaged the recovery. What would be their argument for re-election?
“If you believe higher tax rates or tax revenues would be like poisoning an already weak economy, why would you collaborate in administering that poison? Why not just say no?”
Buchanan sad that just because Republicans lost the election does not mean they should capitulate to the party that made gains. “They should act as the loyal opposition in a parliamentary system whose duty it is to oppose, to offer an alternative agenda and to wait upon the success or failure of the government.”
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