Rand Paul, the tea partieriest of them all, has suggested that he would vote for a bill in the Senate that didn’t extend each and every single one of the Bush tax cuts. Surely the age of “dogs and cats living together” we were warned about in Ghostbusters can’t be far away, folks.
Asked today on Fox News about House Minority Leader John Boehner’s recent reveal that Republicans might — if given no other choice — vote in favor of President Obama’s plan to extend all the Bush cuts save those for the wealthiest Americans, Paul chided Boehner for giving away the store, but didn’t say he rejected Boehner’s comments out of hand.
“I haven’t thought through exactly what happens if you get a choice you don’t want,” Paul said. Paul agreed that his position right now would be “everything or nothing,” but suggested that view could change.
“At least right now,” Paul said when Fox News host Neil Cavuto said Paul was one of those Republicans willing to see middle class taxes rise if it meant voting for a bill that wouldn’t extend the Bush cuts for the wealthy. “If you’re talking about your initial bargaining point, you go for what you think is best.”
Watch:
The TPM Poll Average shows Paul leading Democrat Jack Conway 47.2-41.5.
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
Facebook Conversations
Questions about commenting with non-Facebook accounts like Yahoo, or other concerns? Click here to read the TPM Commenting FAQ.