When Eric Hovde claims that he “pledges” to support reducing tax rates, he is really hoping that voters ignore prior statements where he has promised otherwise. Hovde has told Wisconsin voters that he would accept a tax hike deal with Democrats as part of a grand compromise.
According to Politifact, Hovde “has told voters that he would accept a budget-balancing deal that gets $10 in spending cuts for every $1 in new revenue.”
Hovde’s admission leaves voters wondering if he understands the basic premise of a budget “compromise.” Perhaps Eric Hovde is not aware that budget compromises between Republicans and Democrats do not work. He should examine the 1982 and 1990 budget “compromises.”
In 1982, President Reagan was promised three dollars in spending cuts for every one dollar in tax increases. Whether Hovde remembers this or not, Congressional Democrats never delivered on their promise to cut spending.
In 1990, President George H. W. Bush was promised two dollars in spending cuts for ever one dollar in tax increases. He fell for the bait and violated his Pledge to not raise taxes. After a $137 billion tax hike, spending actually rose by $22 billion.
If the 2011 debt-ceiling deal taught us anything it is that when Republicans hold the line on taxes, spending cuts occur. John Boehner understood this and it is a shame that Eric Hovde does not.
“Eric Hovde’s willingness to negotiate with Democrats like Harry Reid on tax hike ‘compromises’ further proves that he is not the conservative leader he claims to be,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “If thirty years of so-called ‘compromises’ have taught American taxpayers anything it is that at the end of the day, they are stuck paying more taxes with no realized spending cuts. It is a shame Eric Hovde is leaving tax hikes on the table.”