The GOP's Bizarre, Disturbing Passion for Raising Taxes on the Poor

By James Kwak

Let's hope the Republican Party is bought and paid for by the rich, because the other explanation for its obsession with raising taxes at the bottom is far more disturbing

The Republicans, it goes without saying, are the party of low taxes. Their position for the past two years has been simple: Budget deficits should be reduced solely through spending cuts, not increases in tax revenues--even if those revenues are increased solely by closing loopholes in the tax code. The vast majority of Republicans in Congress have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which commits them to vote against any bill that would either increase tax rates or increase tax revenues.

That should be the whole story. But it isn't.