Republican Senators resorting to "GOP trickery" on deficit, selling Mr. 47 Percent's plan. [View all]

[ProSense]

Lindsey Graham's reasonableness comes with fine print

By Steve Benen

<...>

To be sure, Norquist's waning influence is a positive development, as is the larger shift in the debate -- Washington is no longer arguing whether to include more revenue in a debt-reduction deal, but how to include more revenue.

But to characterize Graham's position as some kind of major concession is a mistake. Indeed, while the South Carolinian's position is ever-so-slightly more constructive than some House Republicans'...Let's unwrap this a bit. On the one hand, Graham is willing to accept new revenue. Through slightly higher tax rates on millionaires and billionaires? Absolutely not -- Graham specifically proclaimed, "I will not raise tax rates to do it."

So what will the Republican senator tolerate? Mitt Romney's plan. Here's what Graham offered yesterday:

"When you're $16 trillion in debt, the only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid becoming Greece, and Republicans should put revenue on the table. We're this far in debt. We don't generate enough revenue. Capping deductions will help generate revenue. Raising tax rates will hurt job creation. So I agree with Grover, we shouldn't raise rates, but I think Grover is wrong when it comes to we can't cap deductions."

In other words, Graham -- being singled out for praise today for being so "reasonable" -- would demand that Bush-era tax rates be left in place for everyone, including the very wealthy, but he'd consider a cap on deductions. As a practical matter, his "concession" is being open to adopting Romney's revenue proposal.

In exchange, Graham expects Democrats to reward Republicans with "structural reforms" to support programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. What kind of "reforms" are they seeking? We don't know -- no one in the Republican Party has been specific about the kind of entitlement cuts they expect to get in a bipartisan deal.

- more -

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/11/26/15454314-lindsey-grahams-reasonableness-comes-with-fine-print

Fiscal Cliff – Republican Senators Negotiating with President Romney

<...>

These two have jumped on the Saxby Chambliss bandwagon offering the President something similar to what Mitt Romney campaigned on – entitlement spending cuts with base broadening. But no increases in tax rates including no increases on those already very low tax rates on capital income. If we don’t eliminate the tax break for capital, then the notion that we are raising revenues from upper-income households rings hollow. This is the same old GOP trickery that strives to reign in deficits by socking it to the poor and the middle class. Excuse me but Mitt Romney lost the election. If elections are to have consequences, President Obama should reject this Trojan Horse.

http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2012/11/fiscal-cliff-republican-senators.html

These asshole are all about gimmicks. They haven't learned a damn thing from the election. It's, "Say it nicer" or "Pretend to throw Norquist under the bus."

Mitt lost! Deal with it.