More evidence that the Republicans aren't going to change a bit.
From Senator Roy Blunt's (R-MO) appearance on Fox News this morning
BLUNT: I think, frankly, this is a great opportunity for the president to step forward, he’s just been reelected, he doesn’t have to run for office again, and come up with a plan that actually can pass. And I think that means, don’t do the across the board cuts, come up with a way to have really targeted cuts and look at ways to increase revenue by one growing the economy, and two, maybe look at the tax code, just like Governor Romney suggested, you look at tax code and increase revenue without increasing taxes.
Just like Governor Romney suggested! The same Governor Romney who just lost an election while proposing that we increase revenue through osmosis.
Likewise, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also reiterated today that he doesn't believe anything has changed and that he's happy with the status quo.
“Saying we need a balanced approach is not a plan … it’s simply a poll-tested talking point,” McConnell said. “The time for the president to lead is now and that means offering a concrete plan that can pass when half of Congress disagrees with raising taxes.”
McConnell said Republicans are willing to increase revenue by simplifying the tax code, rather than raising tax rates on those making more than $250,000 a year, which he said would only fund the government for one week. [...]
“Republicans like me have said we’re open to tax reform if we address entitlements,” McConnell said. “New revenue must be tied to genuine entitlement reform."
Yes. A balanced approached is poll tested. Over 60 million Americans voted for it exactly one week ago.
President Obama is holding all the cards here. The Republicans can compromise and taxes will go up, or they can sit on their hands and taxes will go up. The latter will make them look bitterly partisan and unreasonable.
Expect President Obama and Harry Reid to talk about a "grand bargain" and appear overly generous for the rest of the year, because they know it will never happen. And the more reasonable they look, the more unreasonable the Republicans look. They will box the Republicans into a corner much the same way they did last December over payroll tax cuts.