What can Steven Spielberg’s Oscar buzz-generating new film Lincoln teach us about politics in the modern age? Plenty, writes National Journal’s Jill Lawrence. The movie depicts how far Lincoln, exalted by history not only as one of the United States’ most significant presidents, but also among the most virtuous, was...
Negotiations (thanks Playbook) From a top Republican: "The deal is falling apart, as deals always do before they get done. The collapse will allow everyone to get to a small-scale deal that avoids the cliff and moves the more substantive negotiations to next Congress." From a top Democratic: "This so-called...
Thursday late Politico reported that negotiations to resolve the nation’s fiscal crisis came to a virtual standstill as congressional leaders and the White House dug deeper into their partisan positions, from tax hikes to spending cuts. The back-and-forth exchanges underscored how the November election results have failed to clarify how...
After Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s individual meetings yesterday with congressional leaders in the so-called “fiscal cliff” negotiations, Republicans leaked to reporters, per NBC's Luke Russert, what the Obama White House is offering: 1) $1.6 trillion in tax increases and revenues, 2) a permanent end to Congress’ control of the debt...
(French for “done deal”) Taxes are going up for people making north of $250,000 — and most likely, tax rates, too. So what does the final tax hike look like? That will take a while to hash out, but those involved guess it will include a rate hike, higher taxes...
Democrats involved in the process said the chest-pounding by liberals is just that — they know they will ultimately cave and trim entitlements to get a deal done. “A lot of the big entitlement savings comes in the 10-20 year budget window, not the next 10 years,” a Democratic aide...