It seems President Obama’s deal with Republicans on tax cuts has done something few may have thought possible: united the most progressive wing of the Democratic party with the most conservative of the Republicans.
In an email dispatched just minutes ago, the national office of Tea Party Patriots — the largest umbrella for grassroots tea party groups in the country — is calling on its millions of members to bombard Republicans on Capitol Hill with pleas to shut down the tax cut deal which House Democrats rejected earlier today.
“‘The Deal’ or ‘The Tax Deal’ as it is becoming known around the country between President Obama and Congressional Leadership is problematic,” TPP’s national coordinator team writes in the message. “This is a deal that needs to be opposed.”
The Patriots leadership says the deal violates several tenets of the “Pledge To America” Republican leaders presented by incoming House Speaker John Boehner and other House leaders back in September. One purpose of the pledge — like so much of what the Republicans did on the campaign trail this year — was to show a unity of purpose with the fired up tea party base.
The Tea Party Patriots say the the tax cut plan signals that relationship may not be as much of a priority as the Republicans said.
Pointing to a TownHall.com article by conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, the TPP says the tax cut deal runs afoul of several promises made by the Republicans when they signed the pledge:
“Permanently Stop All Job-Killing Tax Hikes” (p. 16)
“Act immediately to Reduce Spending” (p. 21)
“Cut Government Spending to Pre-Stimulus, Pre-Bailout Levels” (p. 21)
“Read the Bill” (p. 33)
“Advance Legislative Issues One at a Time” (p. 33)
Hewitt writes that the tax cut deal violates these promises, and raises questions about the honesty of the Republicans who signed it.
“‘The deal’s’ assault on ‘The Pledge’ will make the latter a joke,” he writes, as the TPP points out. “And instantly impacts the credibility of all future efforts to propose agendas to the electorate.”
The TPP is calling on its members to call their Senators and members of Congress as well as Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in an effort to shut the deal down before it comes up for a vote.
“Make these 5 Calls today, right now,” the TPP leaders write. “Say you oppose the tax deal and want them to vote no.”
