Roundup: Bush Tax Cuts, Obamacare defunding, General Petraeus, and more

-- Newt will be in North Carolina soon: "Former U.S. House speaker and possible presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will be the keynote speaker Thursday at the Wake County Republican convention....'We are delighted Speaker Gingrich has chosen to come to Raleigh at this important juncture,' [Susan] Bryant [the Wake County GOP chairman] said in a statement. 'He is one of the premier public speakers of our time, and his understanding of the important issues facing the nation today is unmatched.'"

-- In an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal, Newt and Peter Ferrara argued for extending the Bush tax cuts:

If the president had his way, the two top income tax rates would have increased by nearly 20% this year, counting his proposed phaseouts of deductions and exemptions. The capital gains tax would increase by nearly 60%, counting the new ObamaCare tax on investment income in 2013. The tax rate on dividends would nearly triple, counting the new ObamaCare tax as well. The Medicare payroll tax would increase by over 60% for the targeted income earners.

But after the stunning Democratic losses in the midterm elections, Mr. Obama finally agreed to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for two years, for everyone. And that has allowed the breathing room for the long-overdue recovery to begin to sprout. Unemployment declined last month to 8.9%.

...

Indeed, if the Fed has to reverse its loose monetary policies to avert rising inflation, the contractionary impact of higher interest rates and a slower increase in the money supply, combined with higher taxes, could lead to a horrendous downturn. Working people, not the rich, would be hurt the most, losing jobs and wages as a result.

To avoid that, this year the House Republican majority should pass a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts. Even that is just a beginning. To touch off a boom—and secure a prosperous future for all Americans—what's really needed are additional, sweeping rate cuts on both individual and corporate income.

-- The Washington Post reports of Gingrich's appearance Friday at the National Press Club:

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday that he expects President Obama’s health care bill to be repealed by the spring of 2013.

But even if Republicans can’t get to repeal, Gingrich said, the bill is doomed because GOP House leadership will refuse to fund it.

“He can block them from repeal,” Gingrich said at an event in Washington this morning. “I don’t think he can coerce them into funding.”

...

“The president would have to go to the country and say, ‘I’m going to veto this bill on behalf of more spending, a bigger deficit and a bigger Washington bureaucracy,’” Gingrich said. “I think that Speaker (John) Boehner and Majority Leader (Eric) Cantor are absolutely committed to refusing the fund the implementation of Obamacare.”

-- From his weekly newsletter:

During the president’s press conference Friday on rising energy costs, he sought to assure the American people that gas prices would not rise too much because other oil producing countries have “committed to filling any gaps” in supply.

This isn’t the first time the administration has said this. In February, the Deputy Secretary of Energy said he hoped “spare capacity” in other countries “will be brought to bear so that it will continue to support our economic recovery.”

Since President Obama took office, gas prices have increased over 90 percent.

After presiding over this enormous rise in prices that are putting a greater and greater strain on family budgets, imagine the naiveté of hoping OPEC and other hostile and unstable countries will “continue to support our economic recovery.”

-- Also from the National Press Club appearance:

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday he continues to have faith in Gen. David Petraeus' strategy in Afghanistan and encouraged other GOP presidential hopefuls to consult the top U.S. commander about his war plan.