Sen. Chuck Schumer (Jason Reed/Reuters)
Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Senate Democrats' Policy Committee,
says that this time Democrats won't take what they think is a "bad deal" from the Super Congress, seemingly rejecting
the Republican offer of more tax "reform" (like taking away the mortgage interest deduction) in exchange for a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts.
Schumer:
"I don’t think … the supercommittee is going to succeed because our Republican colleague have said no net revenues," said Schumer, who handles communications strategy for Senate Democrats, during an MSNBC interview Monday.
"The American people are beginning to sniff this. They’re beginning to sniff that the other side has dug in and is not compromising," Schumer said. [...]
Democratic leaders are telling GOP leaders that they’re not going to win this time by digging in their heels.
“This is all about political will. Everyone knows where cuts and revenues can come from. You’re never going to convince the Republicans to summon the political will to buck Grover Norquist unless you stare them in the eyes and say you’re not going to blink first,” said a Democratic leadership aide, referring to conservative activist Grover Norquist, president of American’s for Tax Reform.
Of course, we've heard that song before more than a few times, including the deal that created the Catfood Commission II in the first place. Democratic capitulation to Republicans holding their breath to prove how committed they are to destroying the world's economy has become old hat. It's partly now a question of whether Republicans are going to believe it this time when Democrats say they won't accept a bad deal, and how far Democrats are willing to take it.
But publicly predicting the failure of the Super Congress, as Schumer has done, and placing the blame squarely on Republicans for their refusal to see taxes raised on the 1 percent helps. It shows that Super Congress failure isn't the end of the world and does not have the kind of consequences that sending the nation into default would. Lowering the stakes could help stiffen Democratic Super Congress spines.