During a field hearing convened by the House Budget Committee on Sept. 21, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith rightly rejected the idea of a tax-hiking “bipartisan fiscal commission.” Such commissions are designed to be a tax trap.
As Larry Kudlow has noted:“The trouble with these so-called bipartisan commissions is that they start raising taxes at the very first meeting even before the first cup of coffee has been poured.”
Some members of congress want to insulate themselves by punting their responsibilities to a blue-ribbon “commission” that would inevitably produce a tax hike.
But Smith, congressman representing Missouri’s 8th congressional district, stood up for his constituents and the American taxpayer.
Smith said:
“The responsibility before us is just to do the job. We’re elected members of Congress. We really don’t need a commission to tell us to do our job.
We just need to do it.
We could do it right now if we just came together. And it’s not easy. It’s not easy to come together as Republicans and Democrats. I know as being chair of the Ways and Means Committee, I strive to get some bipartisan pieces of legislation, and some we’re successful on, and some we just can’t find a way.
But you don’t give up, and I think that’s the key before us.“
Meanwhile at the same hearing, prominent Democrat budget figure Leon Panetta openly admitted the purpose of the “commission” is for members of congress to insulate themselves politically.
“Lastly, encourage action that can provide some political cover for members. And that I think is a bipartisan fiscal commission that can at least provide some cover so that, you know, right now you can’t get together, the politics doesn’t support it. But if in the very least you can pass a commission that gives you that spark, that backup, so that you can move, I think that would be important.”
Thank you for your honesty here, Mr. Panetta. “Political cover” to avoid blame for a commission-promulgated tax hike is exactly what some members are seeking. At the expense of the American people.
See Also: https://atr.org/taxtrap/