Sen. Max Baucus (Mitch Dumke/Reuters)
Republicans on the bipartisan, House and Senate conference committee meeting to hammer out a deal to extend the payroll tax cuts are bemoaning the lack of progress, the partisanship, the unreasonable demands by Democrats that millionaires kick in a little extra to pay for it, or as Sen. Jon Kyl
calls it "beating up on millionaires and billionaires." Poor, pitiful billionaires. Meanwhile, Republicans remain insistent that this bit of help to the middle class be paid for on the backs of public employees and seniors, with pay freezes for federal workers and Medicare hikes.
The package also includes an extension of unemployment insurance, and prevents a steep cut in the Medicare reimbursement rate for doctors, as well as the ongoing litany of completely urnelated political poison pills Republicans refuse to let go of: preventing the EPA from regulating air pollution; forcing approval of the Keystone XL pipeline; and forcing the unemployed to be humiliated and denigrated in order to receive their benefits. And bless his misguided heart, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) is ready to deal on that last bit.
Senate Democrats said they were ready to compromise on issues related to unemployment insurance issues, such as how long to provide benefits and whether to allow states to mandate drug screenings for recipients. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Republicans could expect to see an offer on those and other issues “very soon.”
Ramping up the pressure, Baucus said that to have a realistic shot of meeting the end-of-month deadline, the panel needs to be close to a deal within “a matter of days.”
Do they have to deal? If you can believe Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC),
no.
Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, said the Republicans should never have accepted the payroll tax cut in 2010 when President Obama pushed it as a condition for extending President George W. Bush’s expiring tax cuts. “Now Republicans have our backs against the wall,” Mr. DeMint said. “We can’t win the argument. We’re going to have to go on to something else.”
If DeMint, of all people, is ready to cry uncle, Democrats need to be willing to play a little bit of chicken on this. Republicans were severely damaged by the first round of this battle, and the smarter among them recognize how much more they could be hurt in public opinion if they keep on with their extreme partisan obstruction. Democrats, Baucus foremost among them, have to recognize just what DeMint says: The GOP's backs are against the wall. They have resist the urge to make a bad deal just to get the dealmaking over with.