Republicans are going to have to make their way through the primary season making the flatly implausible assertion that the budget can be balanced without raising taxes. There's a way to do it, though, without sounding completely detached from reality: Say that a tax increase cannot, should not, and will not be an appropriate subject for discussion until: (a) major entitlement reform has taken place; and (b) every possible dime in savings has been wrung out of domestic discretionary spending. So, you're not saying "never"; you're saying, "Not until some more important stuff takes place."
This is very similar to discussions of immigration reform, amnesty, etc. Smart politicians say, "We may need to talk about amnesty, liberalized immigration policies, and so on. But the time to have that conversation is AFTER the border has been secured."
Comments