Nancy Pelosi Says Tax Deal Was An Attempt To ‘Smoke Out’ Republicans

Charlotte, NC – Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that an offer made to the Republican leadership in May was a calculated ruse to “smoke out” the GOP and let the country know where they really stood. It seems as if her ruse worked, and the ex-Speaker’s plan to show the world that Republicans favor the wealthy is bearing fruit.

Last May, Pelosi offered to support a Republican plan to extend the Bush tax cuts as long as taxes would be raised on any person or couple who made more than a million dollars. Her Senate companion, Senator Chuck Shumer has been an adamant proponent of the plan. President Obama has advocated raising taxes on couples who earn more than $250,000.

Pelosi said that she put the cutoff at $1 million dollars to show the country that there is no dollar amount that will convince Republicans to come to a compromise on raising taxes on the wealthy. She turned out to be right, even at a $1 million dollar cut off, Pelosi did not find a single taker on the Republican side of the isle. Pelosi said that guarantees that Democrats will push for the cutoff at $250,000.

Speaking to the Huffington Post Pelosi said:

“The only reason I was saying a million was to smoke out the Republicans to see if there was any figure, no matter how high, that they might agree to and it sends a strong message to the public that they won’t even agree to a million dollars.”

Democrats and Republicans agree that no one making under $250,000 should get an automatic tax increase.