Outside the Beltway

Republican Unity On “No Tax Increases” Starting To Crack

Doug Mataconis · Sunday, November 6, 2011 · 3 comments

A not insignificant number of House Republicans are joining with a group of House Democrats to call for a deficit reduction deal that includes spending cuts and tax increases:

Forty House Republicans signaled support for revenue increases, joining 60 Democrats yesterday to urge a congressional supercommittee seeking a $1.5 trillion debt-reduction deal to aim for cuts of $4 trillion.

The letter signed by the 100 lawmakers demonstrates possible Republican support for revenue increases that have been a sticking point for the bipartisan 12-member debt-reduction panel. Democrats have been unwilling to consider cuts in spending on entitlement programs such as Medicare without agreement from Republicans to raise more tax revenue.

Any deficit-reduction plan “has to be balanced,” Idaho Republican Representative Mike Simpson said at a news conference, choosing a word often used by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California to describe the kind of deficit- reduction package she and fellow Democrats would favor. Simpson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, wouldn’t say how much new revenue should be included.

Whether this will amount to something is unclear. The Supercommittee only has until November 23rd to come up with a proposed package for the House and Senate to vote on and there’s still a lot of resistance in the GOP caucuses in both chambers to tax increases. Nonetheless, it is a hopefully sign that the logjam could be broken under the right circumstances.