The Fall of Plan B : Self-Destruction in the Cause of the 0.3 Per Cent

[Update: On Thursday evening, John Boehner unexpectedly called off the vote on Plan B because he didn’t have enough votes to pass the measure. Some ultra-conservative House Republicans balked at supporting an increase in tax rates even for those earning a million dollars a year or more. Others disliked the bill because it didn’t include any spending cuts. Virtually no GOP members opposed Plan B on the grounds that it was too regressive. Where this humiliating setback for Boehner leaves the negotiations with the White House was unclear. “Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff,” a statement from Boehner’s office said.]

Back in November, a week after President Obama’s reëlection, Bobby Jindal, the ambitious young Republican governor of Louisiana, sat down with Politico and talked about the lessons of Mitt Romney’s defeat. “We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, big anything,” Jindal said. “We cannot be, we must not be, the party that simply protects the rich so they get to keep their toys.”

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