How Cynical Is This?

[otterinbham 0]

Bi-Partisanship on Minimum Wage Bill

by Paul Silver

Norquist takes aim at McCrery

The top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee has come under fire from conservative activist Grover Norquist for cooperating with Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) on a package of small-business tax cuts that the committee approved on Monday.

Norquist charged on Tuesday that the tax breaks — totaling more than $1.8 billion — are paid for by tax increases that Democrats will use against Ways and Means ranking member Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.) and other Republicans in the 2008 election.

“McCrery is making a very damaging mistake in voting in committee and in having his members vote in committee for a tax increase,” Norquist said in an interview with The Hill.

He predicted that Democrats will attack the Republican votes as favoring tax increases, and that no one will remember that those tax increases were only meant to offset tax cuts included in the bill.

The House is expected to vote on the tax bill before the end of the week. Ways and Means approved it unanimously with little debate after a 30-minute markup, and the bill will probably be rolled into the minimum-wage legislation awaiting conference with the Senate.

According to Norquist, obstructing the Democratic majority in the House can pay off more than working with it. He said that Rangel, who has pledged to restore comity between Democrats and Republicans on Ways and Means, acted as an obstructionist when former Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) headed the committee.

“What did he get out of that? Control of the House,” Norquist charged.

In an interview, McCrery disagreed with that assessment, which he said represents the “narrow view” of the political world. “For Grover to imply that the reason Democrats won back the majority is because Charlie was an obstructionist is a giant leap,” McCrery said.

He said he and House GOP leaders decided to work with Rangel on the tax bill because small businesses would be hurt by the minimum-wage increase and needed tax relief. In addition, he said, it is illogical to conclude that House Republicans should have fought the House Democrats on the tax bill once Democrats signaled a willingness to consider the tax legislation in connection with the minimum-wage hike. House Democrats previously had argued for a clean minimum-wage bill.

Sitting back and throwing bombs at the Democratic Party will only increase public cynicism in the political and governmental world, McCrery added…

Bravo, to Chairman Rangel’s open mindedness to consider Small business tax cuts and for the GOP members of Ways and Means who risk the ire of tax ideologues in favor of a reasonable compromise. I hope this is a prelude of collaboration yet to come.