Hide your wallets.

House rules change clears way for tax increases

One of the first key procedural votes in the Democrat-controlled House last week established legislative rules that Republicans say will make it easier to raise taxes by a simple majority vote.

The straight party-line vote received little attention Thursday as Rep. Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, was elected speaker of the House. But Republican leaders and conservative tax-cut advocates said it opened up a huge loophole in a Republican-imposed rule drawn from the Republicans’ 1994 Contract with America, which requires a supermajority, or three-fifths vote, to raise taxes.

Democrats unanimously voted down a motion offered by Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio that would have prevented them from waiving the rule, a move that tax-cutters said signaled the Democrats’ intention to raise taxes between now and the 2008 elections.

The observent will note that they have not done so yet.  After watching the Washington State Democrats bypass every spending restriction including peoples initiatives, and pass a deluge of taxes, I won’t hold my breath.

David Zucker said it first.  Satire or prophesy?

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