House rules change clears way for tax increases

Taxes could be raised between now and the 2008 elections. A straight party-line vote by the Democrats has just changed one of the key procedural votes: a legislative rule making it easier to raise taxes by a simple majority vote (218 votes), rather than the supermajority or three-fifths vote created by the Republicans 1994 Contract with America. Some Democrats who were against it were strong armed into voting for it, even though they promised back home that they would not raise taxes! My favorite part? The Democrats also approved the so-called "pay-as-you-go" rule as part of the House rules package. The rule says that when taxes are cut, lawmakers must offset any revenue loss with either new or higher taxes elsewhere, or reductions in spending.

How about we just reduce our spending, folks? The full article by The Washington Post can be found here.