After years of saying that tax cuts never needed to be offset by spending cuts, Republicans changed their tune last fall and demanded that the extension of the payroll tax cut had to be offset by budget reductions elsewhere. It was a new position for the GOP, and it lasted as long as it took for them to propose their next tax cut for millionaires.
Despite calls from some conservative members of the party, GOP leadership won’t demand spending cuts to offset the “small business” tax cut that is being proposed by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Politico reports:
Several Republican leadership aides say they have no plans to offset the tax cut, which a centerpiece of their agenda during these next two weeks in session.
The payroll tax cut, which Republicans did everything to block until it became politically impossible to continue, primarily benefited working class Americans and has real economic benefits. Cantor’s tax cut, on the other hand, is supposedly targeted at small businesses, but will largely aid millionaires like Oprah Winfrey and the owners of professional sports franchises. According to the Center for American Progress’ Seth Hanlon, the bill gives millionaires an average tax cut of $45,000.
Cantor’s bill is hardly the only Republican-sponsored legislation that is no longer subject to the orthodoxy the party claimed was so important just six months ago. The House GOP’s budget provides $3 trillion in tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations, and though its author, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), claims his plan will maintain current revenue levels, the budget would actually make the nation’s debt worse.