Ron Paul: GOP will be punished if it capitulates on tax increases

Ron Paul: GOP will be punished if it capitulates on tax increases
By Justin Sink - 11/17/11 05:41 PM ET

Ron Paul says that Republicans will be punished if they do not hold the line against tax increases in the super-committee negotiations and argued that his campaign was well situated to challenge Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination in a radio interview with Sean Hannity Thursday.

"If we capitulate, they will punish the Republican Party," Paul said in response to questions about proposed tax increases. He also said that Republicans needed to be thinking more dramatically about reducing the federal deficit.

"Even if they cut a trillion dollars over the next couple of years from the baseline budget it doesn't mean anything," Paul said.

"I think they're in total denial, because if they were serious they'd be cutting, they'd be cutting back on spending. As far as I'm concerned, you have to cut, but so far i haven't been able to get anyone in Washington to agree with me."

Paul went on to say that he believed that he was positioned well to capitalize on a tumultuous Republican field.

"I think the momentum is in our direction, Romney has dropped off in Iowa and he's not as strong in New Hampshire as some of the polling has shown," Paul said.

The Texas congressman said that while some candidates have bubbled to the top of the field - only to experience equally as dramatic falls from grace - his candidate has built organically.

"Ours is very, very solid and has grown steadily, it has not soared, so I think it's a healthy, steady support," Paul said. "We do have to keep growing as we have been."

Paul also bantered with Hannity about definitively ruling out a third-party run for president. Although Paul said that "it's not going to happen," that it "wouldn't be worth it," and that he had "no plan" to run, he refused to definitively rule out the bid.

"I have no intention of doing that," Paul repeated above Hannity's laughing protests. Asked why he wouldn't completely close the door, Paul joked, "well, I guess to just keep you guessing a little bit."

"But it's not going to happen, it's just not going to happen," Paul added.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/194407-ron-paul-gop-will-be-punished-if-it-capitulates-on-tax-increases