Republican Party

It's a Trap!

This isn't a compromise at all:

House GOP Leader John Boehner offered a concession on tax cuts, suggesting Republicans would accept a two-year extension of all the Bush-era tax breaks rather than the permanent extension they have been seeking.

The GOP proposal is an alternative to Democratic leaders' plan to allow the top two rates to rise next year to pre-Bush levels.

Two years from now is the 2012 presidential campaign. The Republicans will absolutely NOT let the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy expire and they'll screech about it throughout the campaign -- possibly trying to force the president and Democratic candidates take on-air pledges and so forth. Also, the Republicans set the 2011 expiration date in the first place, and now they want to extend the tax cuts -- renegging on the original deal. There's nothing in the history of this policy that indicates they'd stick to their pledge.

And meanwhile, we continue to add $700 billion to the deficit without any stimulative effect on the economy. So yeah, this is a bullshit GOP trap.