The outgoing congressman thinks the president's fiscal cliff expectations are unrealistic.
It would be most unlike the outspoken Rep. Allen West to spend his final days in office in silence. In an interview on Fox News Thursday evening, the Florida lawmaker suggested that President Obama's proposals to avert the fiscal cliff are not based on reality.
"What the president is proposing is not pragmatic whatsoever and it really is a reflection of him, I suppose, living in some type of fantasy world," he said.
Obama campaigned on the promise to raise taxes on incomes of $250,000 and above, but recently raised his offer to $400,000, to the dismay of some Democrats. Perhaps seeing it as a sign of weakness, House Speaker John Boehner upped the ante to tax hikes on incomes of $1 million or more, known as Plan B. It was an epic failure, however, as he was unable to rally enough support from his own Republican rank-and-file.
West said he didn't support Plan B primarily because there hasn't been enough emphasis on spending cuts in any proposals that have been put on the table.
"We're telling the American people that they have to tighten their bootstraps, but we do not seem to want to do that in Washington, D.C.," he said.
West also had harsh words for Obama and other Democrats who point to the president's re-election as a mandate to raise taxes on the nation's top earners.
“I have to tell you that I’m not such an idiotic person where I’m going to follow someone off into the abyss. This is a horrible political gimmick that the president ran on," the outgoing lawmaker said. "Unfortunately, he did win the election. But when you look at the House of Representatives, the Republicans maintained their majority there and that is where revenue bills emanate from."
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(Photo: FOX NEWS)
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