Many Republican and Democratic lawmakers are ready to take a swan dive off the fiscal cliff, feeling its better temporarily to absorb the chaotic consequences than “swallow a raw deal,’’
Politico reports.
“It seems the least bad route for all sides is on the other side of Jan. 1,’’ one senior House Republican told the political website.
Both sides have concrete ideas on how the lack of a last-minute deal would play out with the public.
“For many Republicans, a cliff dive means blaming President Barack Obama for a big tax hike in the short term and then voting to cut taxes for most Americans next month,’’ Politico explains.
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That means “an easier sell back home in Republican-heavy districts’’ than an eleventh-hour deal now that raises taxes on those making over $250,000 or $400,000, extends unemployment benefits and does little to cut back on entitlement spending.’’
On the Democratic side, according to Politico, “the cliff is better than setting a rich man’s cutoff in the million-dollar range — or worse yet, extending the Bush tax cuts for all earners — and slashing Medicare and Social Security to appease Republicans.’’
Still, some political analysts told CBS News they remain hopeful that the deadline and the possibility of “a very angry American public’’ will force lawmakers to cut a deal before the clock runs out.
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