WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) today made the following statement:
“Speaker Boehner’s letter to the President today distorts the work of the Bowles-Simpson Commission, which assumed the expiration of the high-end Bush tax cuts and the continuation of the middle class tax cuts. Within that framework, House Republicans should join with Democrats in passing the Senate bill this week. Republicans remain in a state of denial. The recent election was not a status quo election but rather a validation of the President’s often-stated position on taxes. We must remain optimistic that Republicans will accept reality and not push our nation over the cliff."
Earlier today, Rep. Levin appeared on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports this afternoon:
Levin on MSNBC: “I’m optimistic. I think things are coming to a head. The Republicans have a clear choice to continue the Norquist stranglehold or to have it broken. And the consequences - not continuing the middle class tax cut and ending the tax break for the very wealthy - with all the consequences for the unemployed, those who go to doctors and doctors have to be reimbursed, I think in the end the Republicans will choose to have the hammer lock - the stranglehold of Norquist - ended. … I think the Republicans in the end will decide not to go over the cliff with Norquist. The consequences would be so substantial, as Steve Rattner has indicated. It just should not happen and I think the last weeks haven't been a waste of time. What’s really been happening is this, as I said, has been coming to a head. The Republicans have a major decision to make. And that is, essentially, who's running their party? Is it Norquist? Is it the people who spoke in the election and voted for the president? This issue was foremost in the campaign. The people spoke. The Republicans need to listen. In the end, I think that will happen.
