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Subscribe to RSSNBC's Domenico Montanaro reports that although some Republicans have changed their tone on a new-no-taxes pledge, they aren't putting tax rate increases on the table.
Some Republicans appear to be softening what was once a hard stance on their no-taxes pledge as the end-of-the-year deadline on the so-called “fiscal cliff” approaches.
But it’s not clear how far they would go – if they would raise rates on the wealthiest, as President Obama wants, or if they are simply willing to go along with eliminating some loopholes and deductions to raise revenue. And those who have been outspoken on the topic thus far are not seen as the key players in the ongoing negotiations.
Alex Wong / Getty Images
Select Committee on Intelligence ranking member Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) gets on the Senate subway as he leaves after a hearing on the Benghazi attack November 16, 2012 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
“I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge,” Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia told a local TV station from his home state. “If we do it his way then we’ll continue in debt, and I just have a disagreement with him about that.”
Chambliss is one of several congressional Republicans who have indicated they might break with an anti-tax pledge pushed by activist Grover Norquist.
NBC's Chuck Todd tells Savannah Guthrie that House Republicans are stalling a compromise in the "fiscal cliff" debate, unlike the Senate, where members are more keen to strike a compromise.
On the Sunday shows and Monday morning TV, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bob Corker (R-TN), as well as Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA) -- the House minority leader -- and Peter King (R-NY), joined Chambliss in downplaying the “Taxpayer Protection Pledge.” Norquist’s 58-word pledge has been a mainstay in Republican politics since 1986. In 2011, every GOP presidential hopeful, including Mitt Romney (and excluding Jon Huntsman) signed it.
NBC's Domenico Montanaro reports on the increased number of pledges that Republican presidential candidates are being asked to sign in this campaign. One pledge stands apart, a no-new-taxes pledge, whose creator has influenced day-to-day legislation and is vowing to fight any effort to get find revenue in the new congressional supercommittee charged with closing the national debt.
“I agree with Grover — we shouldn’t raise rates,” Graham said on ABC, “but I think Grover is wrong when it comes to we can’t cap deductions and buy down debt.” Graham added, “I will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if Democrats will do entitlement reform.”
Corker told CBS on Monday: “I’m not obligated on the pledge. I made Tennesseans aware, I was just elected, the only thing I’m honoring is the oath I take when I serve, when I’m sworn in this January.”
King, of New York, said on Meet the Press Sunday: “I agree entirely with Saxby Chambliss -- a pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago, is for that Congress... I think everything should be on the table.”
Norquist, in fact, says the fact that no House Republican has voted for a tax increase in 22 years is directly a product of his pledge. Norquist does not just mandate that lawmakers not vote for tax increases, but also that any bill they sign onto has to be “revenue neutral.”
In other words, cutting deductions and loopholes, for example, would also be out if not offset by further tax cuts. But Republicans and Democrats face an end-of-the-year deadline to try and figure out a way to avert the steep military and domestic spending cuts and taxes going up for everyone when the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of the year.
USA Today's Susan Page, American Bridge 21st Century President Rodell Mollineau, and YG Action Fund Senior Adviser Brad Dayspring join Chuck Todd to talk about the impending fiscal cliff.
That some senators appear ready to talk revenue is not as significant as what House members say. It is widely believed that a deal would be struck between the White House and the House GOP, not with the Senate.
House Speaker John Boehner has said that “revenue” is on the table, but the president wants to raise rates for the wealthiest. Obama campaigned on the idea, but it’s not at all clear whether the House Republican rank-and-file would sign on to any rate increase.
Cantor, who wields some influence with the GOP conference’s more conservative members, is seen as more of a keystone, and he, too, seemed willing to go along with at least some revenue increases.
“There has been a lot said about this pledge,” Cantor said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Monday. “When I go to the constituents, it’s not about that pledge. It’s about trying to solve problems. House Speaker John Boehner went to the White House and said, ‘Hey, Republicans in the House are willing to put revenues on the table.’ That’s a big move.”
House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., sits down with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, John Heilemann, and Mike Barnicle to talk about Israel, Egypt, the Grover Norquist tax pledge, the future of fiscal cliff negotiations, and why not everything is on the table in tax talks.
“We were elected to fix problems,” Cantor said, before adding, “Even if you raise all those taxes, it doesn’t fix your problem.”
In a follow-up interview, Cantor’s office stressed that he remains against raising tax rates.
“Republicans aren't against tax rate hikes because of any one man or pledge,” spokeswoman Megan Whittemore said. “We are against hiking rates, because they're bad for the economy and hurt jobs. We've put ideas on the table that bring more money in while keeping tax rates where they are to produce job growth. It's now time for President Obama to put his ideas on the table for spending cuts and entitlement reform if he truly embraces a balanced approach.”
For his part, Norquist isn’t backing down. In a statement to NBC News, he took shots at the GOP senators and expressed confidence that no one would violate the pledge.
"Chambliss has been pushing this line since he joined the Gang of Six,” Norquist said. “Lindsey Graham has for two years said he would raise taxes if he got a 10:1 ratio of spending cuts through entitlement reform that could not be undone. There is no news in these two 'changing.'”
And he added, “They have not voted for a tax hike. They have had impure thoughts on present. Their impure thoughts did not change a single GOP vote in the 2011 fight over the debt ceiling which had a real deadline looming. One might have argued that the pledge died in 1990 when a sitting president and many in House leadership broke the pledge. However, the opposite happened, the pledge became more powerful when breaking it was seen to have very real consequence in 1992. After the 1994 election a majority of the House and Senate had signed the pledge."
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Now the GOP is going to embrace the class warfare and WAR ON MEN the demo's have pushed on us for 80 years. F you GOP! At least stand on principle in the face of madness!
Our government exists to fairly govern the public, on their behalf, with their money. They have a commitment to all the people, not just Grover Norquist. By signing an agreement with one person and casting votes to adhere to that agreement, to me should be viewed as treason, and should be treated accordingly.
I would love to believe that the Republican leadership was starting to come to their senses but I know better. This is nothing more than posturing. They want to give the impression that they are giving something when they are not. They will then try to convince us that it is President Obama who is not willing to compromise. The only way their little charade works is if we all have a brain cramp and forget how we got into this mess in the first place. Two unfunded wars and an economic meltdown of immense proportion brought to you by our friends on wall street who, ultimately, profited at our expense. It is now time for them to start paying back. I will gladly shoulder extra burden to fix our country if, and only if, the 1% bend over and take it like the men they claim to be. I know they will not because when it comes right down to it, they are greedy cowards.
After suffering through more than a year and over $2 billion worth of campaigns we now find ourselves..... exactly where we were a year ago. The politicians who profess to be running the government as our representatives wasted a whole year in which they could have and damned well should have been working to solve the enormous problems this country faces. And so now we all get what? A daily earful from our media on the "fiscal cliff". The cliff that was always there even a year ago. The cliff the politicians did nothing about. The cliff they now have but days to avoid. This is pure crap. From both democrats and republicans. It's even worse than pure crap because in the end it's not going to be the "rich" who will be milked enough to make all our troubles disappear. It's going to be we, the lower, middle and upper middle class who are going to take it in the neck. Just like we always do. Just like the politicians always do while always saying they won't. $16 trillion plus and counting in spending over and above what was taken in did not happen because politicians cared about the future. It happened because they cared about the now and to hell with the future. Well, the future is here now. Get ready for some serious life changes. Thanks Washington. And by the way, we're all waiting on pins and needles for the next year and a half to blaze on by so we can all watch the next round of send me to Washington and I will solve all your problems. At least that waste of time will only last about 6 months.
man you are so right.........all these politicians suck the big one.....including obama the ass........hey americans!!!!...who runs our country??...the douchebag politicians?....or the americans who work their asses off every day only to have their hard earned dollars become revenue........
here's the thing......even with this ass obama as president, an american who works hard can become wealthy...there is nothing wrong with being rich.....but you libs think you can't become rich......so wrong.....even a stupid lib can become rich in our nation.....that's the beauty of america......
Nothing wrong with being rich. They can start paying their fair share of the burden. They can start letting the wealth trickle down like Reagan promised us they would if we gave them all the breaks or we can tax it out of them.
hey dude....the rich already pay way more than their fair share of this onerous tax burden........
Right... That big 14% that Romney had to fiddle with his taxes to make it look like he was paying is just too much.
Gee, McPaddyidiot--the rich already pay more than their fair share? So, you are in favor of lowering their taxes and making up the difference by raising taxes on the rest of us? I guess that is a typical right wing position although few would admit it publicly. But eventually someone has to pay for the Bush-Republican Iraq War.
I don't see what the problem is. At the start of next year the republicans are going to see the huge spending cuts they want. To the MILITARY as well as entitlement programs. The democrats are going to see taxes go up. To the WORKING CLASS as well as the rich.
Let it happen and then the republicans can work to raise military spending and cut taxes for billionaires on their own merit. And democrats can work to increase medicare spending and cut taxes for the middle class on it's own merit.
There is no deal that Obama or the democrats need to reach. Tell the republicans the same thing they have been saying for the last four years... HELL NO!
we need to get rid of every stinking politician in washington.....including this ass obama....
Apparently Mcpaddywackjob, the majority of American voters disagree with you. However, in the most ignorant, poorly educated, and backward parts of the country, such as rural Mississippi, they strongly agree with you. I'm sure that gives you comfort.
'rural Mississippi'
part of the old slave states block that comprise what they now call 'red states'... but still based on Civil Way politics (blues became reds when LBJ pushed civil rights legislation through)
Let the tax cuts expire. Let the spending cuts take place. Let the republicans explain to America why the rich need to pay less taxes and why we need to increase military spending. Let the democrats explain to America why the working class needs a tax cut.
NO DEAL with these scumbucket republicans!
Has Romney readjusted his taxes to include all the deductions that he could have taken yet? Did he get his share of the tax burden down below 10% now that the election is over and he no longer has to pretend that he's paying almost 14%?
This Grover Norquist T-Shirt is awesome. Supplies are limited. Buy one if you want to #ThrowGroverOver and save this country before it's too late!
strange how until now republicans have held Grover Norquist above the US public... perhaps times are changing just a tad
let's hope so
I love these arguments about taxes. First off, Social security has run a huge surplus which then covered a large portion of the Bush Wars. There is no lock box for social security, Medicare and Medicaid. Now, lets get real as I have enjoyed every tax bracket up to nearly 400K/ year. My 16 year old pays 15%- no deductions, from dollar 1. A higher rate than Romney on every dollar earned. But I do agree he needs to contribute to future health care that will inevitably happen.
Now, at around 110K, I get a nice 15% tax break as I get past payroll taxes. As a business owner, I also see the 15% annual increases in health care on top of huge deductibles and Co-pays. 2012 is the first year our premiums leveled off, even got a rebate. I consider health care a huge tax. It is also fixed- Income tax is a function of profit. No profit, no tax. Health care is not negotiable. It's 10 to 20K a head on 20 employees. I still wonder where Ryan came up with the 6K medicare plan for seniors. Guess I don't believe Fox news.
Now, when I was making in the 100K range, I could come up with lots of deductions. But soon this AMT kicked in. I pay big taxes. So I asked my accountant, how do I get that Romney deal of 14%? He said you can't. So when I hear tea baggers complain about taxes, I really get aggravated. Most of them pay very little or live on Social security and pensions they paid into all their lives. But I also believe that taxes should be based on wealth, not income. Do you really think Trust fund kids built a business? Get a clue.
The bottom line is the that no tax plan is fair, but they gotta happen. It pisses me off that the Bush tax cuts put a grand in my pocket while our troops are sent on a futile mission with no objective other than make W a war president. Now, I hear the argument that if billionairs gave up all their income it would not pay off the deficit. If they paid a tax on 1% of their net equity, deficit gone and they still wouldn't even notice it. Much of the truly rich have no income -by republican definition only labor is income.
Until the rich feel the taxes really start cutting into there lifestyle, they can just keep mouthing no new taxes. Until they personally visualize their worth if the dollar crashes and wonder how they would feed their family, they dont have much skin in the game. If you have a bunch of money get together with other people with a bunch of money. Stop wasting your time on Obama or any other flavor of the four years, and go after the system. Since 1913 the value of the dollar has decreased 97%. You think it will ever be 96% again? Yelling at Obama and the bought Congressmen is like yelling at the waitress for the bad food. You want real change? You want a strong leader? Well you are the ones that happens to be holding the money at the moment. You better do something wise with it while it still has any value at all. Get together with your patriotic rich buddies and work to close down the Fed and throw the United Nations out!!! Jump in the water instead of waiting for it to consume you. You want to lead? Do it! Just remember they have shot at least four Presidents for trying. If you know history you realize we are still fighting the Revolutionary war for the American system of economics. Stop blaming the poor as just useless and lazy as a way to continue your denial. Recognize what the real war is and do something about it.
wrong reply- sorry
the boom in tax revenues during Clinton came not from the tax increase but from the Capital Gains tax cut the Republicans pushed through in 1997.
Furthermore- there was NO Clinton surplus
“So the table itself, according to the figures issued yesterday, showed the Federal Government ran a surplus. Absolutely false. This reporter ought to do his work. This crowd never has asked for or kept up with or checked the facts. Eric Planin--all he has to do is not spread rumors or get into the political message. Both Democrats and Republicans are all running this year and next and saying surplus, surplus. Look what we have done. It is false. The actual figures show that from the beginning of the fiscal year until now we had to borrow $127,800,000,000. - Democratic Senator Ernest Hollings, October 28, 1999
Eliminate all of the Bush tax cuts, including the tax cuts for low- and middle-income Americans, and you would reduce the debt by perhaps 10% — assuming you didn’t cripple the economy in the process. Tax the rich? That won’t get you there either. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, in order to pay for all currently scheduled federal spending would require raising both the corporate tax rate and top income tax rate from their current 35% to 88%, the current 25% tax rate for middle-income workers to 63%, and the 10% tax bracket for low-income workers to 25%.
http://tinyurl.com/2flzfl6
Larry, do you understand that the deficit is a black hole. It is by design never to be paid completely down. Our taxes never even get a whiff of the inside of our treasury. They are fed directly in to the black hole with the intention of dismantling this country and assimilating it into a New World Order as Daddy Bush so eloquently framed it.
Milburn- do you understand that I'm a libertarian who considers the Democrats to be communists and the Republicans to be socialists?
unlike pathetic liberals like phillykevin we conservatives actually go out and accomplish our dreams through perseverance, determination, and belief in the principles of liberty
the evidence of my accomplishments are public
BTW- living offshore does not make you an ex-American. We expats, still pay taxes and vote. We just choose not to live under the oppression of a marxist/totalitarian govt.
phillykevin2:
You forgot "Sweet Mullet Aficionado!"
No one here is talking about Capital Gains tax which is the 14% that Romney gets to slither by on, that rate should be doubled to 28%...on top of letting the Bush tax cuts to expire on the wealthy..close all of the loopholes and that would bring in serious money. No need to touch the social programs
@KD212, are your really that dumb about investing? Really? Don't you and like thinking morons realize that people, not just the ultra rich, but most middle class and upper middle class also invest? And those investers want a decent return on their money. Let's say the city you live in needs to upgrade and expand it's sewer system, but doesn't have the money.
The city goes to the taxpayers there and floats a muni bond. The taxpayers there approve it, the bond goes out, and investers buy it, receiving at least 5% interest. In return, people get put to work fixing your sewer system and your toilets keep flushing, pipes are replaced so the old ones won't be breaking, etc.
Now you raise that Capital Gains tax, who is going to buy your muni bond? Nobody will, as you taxpayers there will not approve a bond that pays 33%. Yes, 33% because investors want a 5% return. 28 % tax, plus a 5% return=33%.
So more unemployment, more broken sewer pipes, more toilets backing up, and you wonder why? Damn, like I said, learn about investing before spouting rubbish. But your kind never will, all you can think of is tax tax tax.
Closing loopholes allows some politicians to keep their promises to their voters not to change tax rates. The effect on the bottom-line is identical, so it's a game with words. The important thing is to cut spending, which neither party has done.
Capital gains are taxed differently than ordinary income because combining all gains from many years into one gain at higher tax rates in the year of sale is unfair. Also, the government wants to encourage people to leave money invested. It's a delusion to think that wealthy people keep gold in a cave guarded by a dragon. Wealthy people are invested in utilities and municipal bonds. Wealthy people are funding the government life-support system. If wealthy people didn't invest in these things, we'd all be paying more taxes.
Actually, the American people voted for a tax increase when they elected broncobamma. The only problem is, you can't vote for a tax increase on someone else. Everyone must pay more taxes--not just the "rich". Twenty little ten year olds would drag Arnold Schwarzenegger around the playground in a tug-of-war. The "rich" can't continue to carry all of the deadbeats around--and by deadbeats, I mean those who pay no taxes at all.
@barowner. Really, there are people who pay no taxes at all? Give some examples, outside of people on disability. Every time a person puts gas in their vehicle, they pay a federal and state gas tax. Buy a pack of smokes, same thing, fed and state tax.
Buy a new kitchen table, pay sales tax, except for a very few states. So when some idiot like you makes a statement that someone pays no taxes at all, well it shows what your IQ really is, a single number. Geesh
Poor little Grover....looks like he'll be back on the playground getting his lunch money stolen again and getting his hiney kicked by the big girls. He can run home crying to mommie. What a train wreck he has been for the repubs.
"GOP softens stance on tax pledge"
I guess if everyone in government has every possible luxury it is worth the sacrifice.
Warren Buffett is suggesting a minimum tax of 30% at $1M and 35% at $10M+.
Wonder if the wealthy Democrats will consider this; otherwise a rate bump will miss the Buffett's & Romney's.
MJ... the tax rate increase would not hit people like Buffett or Romney as most of their income, if not all of it, is from capital gains.
politicoguy
Would you like to disagree to agree?
Lol... whoops
"Conservatives" complain about "welfare" and "entitlements" because that sounds bad and they can fool poor and middle class voters.
What do they really mean by "entitlement reform"? They're not talking about "welfare", or food stamps; they're talking about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Reduced Social Security benefits? If you have a physically demanding job like brick-layers or construction workers, you have to work until you're 70? No cost of living adjustments?
Reduced Medicare? Less money for poor, old, people to pay for nursing home care?
I have a feeling that "entitlement reform" is going to hurt the poor and middle class a lot more than any watered-down tax increase is going to hurt the most wealthy Americans.
"Compassionate conservatives" seem to lose a lot of their "compassion" when there is money involved. They believe that "we can't afford it" is a good excuse to ignore human suffering, and poverty.
Get lost Grover you sad pathetic man, your time is over. Grover you are so over!!!!!!
Mr. Norquist doesn't give a crap about anything but his own ego. He's very interested in getting press attention and trying to keep the signers of his lame pledge in line, not what is best for the country.
He has no real power, so he sits on the sidelines taking pot-shots as the real movers/shakers who can get elected and have real power. Maybe he's pissed that Sesame Street has an infantile, rather moronic puppet named Grover - or was he named after Grover? Oh wait - he's the infantile, rather moronic individual.
Any politician or pundit who says "Always" or "Never" shouldn't be trusted and should be viewed as an extreme cuckoo. I don't necessarily want my taxes raised; I don't think anyone wants to give up their money.
But, where's the jobs following the Bush tax cuts? I mean, we were promised jobs, right? "Let the job creators keep more of their money so they can make more jobs!" was the party line. Didn't work out too hot, did it? Lots more jobs in the Clinton era, with a higher tax bracket. More millionaires created then that at any time in our modern industrial history. You can never say "I'll never ever raise taxes" because it's all smoke and mirrors. Anyone who votes for a guy who says "I'll never raise taxes" is as dumb as the person who marries the alcoholic who says "I swear I'll never take another drink".
It's a big, giant s**t sandwich and we're all gonna take a bite. So let's just get it over with and move on.