Sometimes I think we would be better off leaderless. Senator: GOP could accept tax hikes on very rich:
There is a growing group of folks looking at this and realizing that we don’t have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year end,” [Tennessee Senator Bob] Corker told Fox News Sunday.If Republicans agree to Obama’s plan to increase rates on the top 2% of Americans, Corker added, “the focus then shifts to entitlements and maybe it puts us in a place where we actually can do something that really saves the nation.”
No. It. Doesn’t.
How do I know this? Read on in the very same article:
Besides getting tax hikes through the Republican-dominated House, Corker’s proposal faces another hurdle: Democrats haven’t been receptive to GOP proposals on the entitlement programs. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Sunday was skeptical about proposals to increase the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67. He said he doesn’t see Congress addressing the complicated issue of Medicare overhaul in the three weeks remaining before the end of the year.”I just don’t think we can do it in a matter of days here before the end of the year,” Durbin said. “We need to address that in a thoughtful way through the committee structure after the first of the year.”
The only chance to reform entitlements and other budget items stoking the national debt is to deal with everything at once. Otherwise, reform doesn’t get done. At least for the next 4 years, if ever.
Using the debt ceiling as a focus point is a pipe dream. If you are bullied by “the fiscal cliff is falling, the fiscal cliff is falling,” you will never withstand DebtCeiling-Ageddon.
Take the Christmas Strategy, please:
I say call his bluff. If a deal which tackles deficits from both revenue and spending can be reached this month, great.If not, pass a 90 day extension of current tax rates and whatever else is needed to postpone the “cliff,” and go home for Christmas to give time for a Grand Bargain which puts Democratic sacred cows on the table.Let Harry Reid refuse to bring it to a vote, and Obama refuse to sign it. Their inaction will be the reason for taxes rising for everyone.
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