Kevin McCarthy trumpeted a debt-ceiling deal Sunday, but increasing debt another $4 trillion with minimal concessions is nothing to boast about.
To be fair, the House speaker has a razor slim majority and Republicans don\u2019t control the Senate, where Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his sidekick Lindsey Graham have announced that the only thing they care about is Ukraine.
But McCarthy\u2019s one dealbreaker should have been his promise to defund President Biden\u2019s massive $80 billion to turbocharge an already weaponized IRS.
This was the totemic centerpiece of his pitch to become speaker.
It was the most memorable promise of the Republicans\u2019 midterm campaign to win back the House.
It struck a chord with voters, wary of funding a new \u201carmy\u201d of armed IRS agents to harass middle-class families and small business owners and abuse their powers to target political dissidents, Soviet-style.
\u201cOur very first bill will repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents,\u201d McCarthy vowed.
\u201cYou see, we believe government should be to help you, not go after you.\u201d
Sure enough, the House voted 221-210 to repeal the extra IRS funding.
\u201cPromises made,\u201d the newly minted speaker said Jan. 9, banging the gavel on the first bill of the Republican-controlled House.
What about promises kept?
In the debt-ceiling deal outlined Sunday and due to be inked later this week, McCarthy has allowed the lion\u2019s share of that extra IRS funding to remain unmolested: preserving $78.1 billion of the $80 billion.
As rebel GOP Rep Dan Bishop put it: \u201cSo there will be 85,260 more IRS agents rather than 87,000 to eat you alive. Big win.\u201d McCarthy previously vowed to repeal the funding used to hire 87,000 new IRS agents during his campaign for House Speaker.AP Photo\/Susan Walsh, File
Overpromising and underdelivering is what turns voters off the GOP.
You don\u2019t mount a powerful six-month fear campaign about 87,000 new, armed IRS agents ready to break down people\u2019s doors, and then meekly capitulate at the first sign of resistance.
Even if those fears were exaggerated, your credibility rests on delivering a lot more than 2% of what you promised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n