海角大神

So the bidding has begun.

According to the聽聽(which got the information from GOP leaders), the President鈥檚 opening bid to Republicans is:

鈥� $1.6 trillion in additional tax revenues over the next decade, from limiting tax deductions on the wealthy and raising tax rates on incomes over $250,000 (although those rates don鈥檛 have to rise as high as the top marginal rates under Bill Clinton)

鈥� $50 billion in added economic stimulus next year

鈥� A one-year postponement of pending spending cuts in defense and domestic programs

鈥� $400 billion in savings over the decade from Medicare and other entitlement programs聽聽(the same number contained in the President鈥檚 2013 budget proposal, submitted before the election).

鈥� Authority to raise the debt limit without congressional approval.

The $50 billion in added stimulus is welcome. We need more spending in the short term in order to keep the recovery going, particularly in light of economic contractions in Europe and Japan, and slowdowns in China and India.听

But by signaling its willingness not to raise top rates as high as they were under Clinton and to cut some $400 billion from projected increases in Medicare and other entitlement spending, the White House has ceded important ground.

Republicans obviously want much, much more.

The administration has taken a 鈥渟tep backward, moving away from consensus and significantly closer to the cliff, delaying again the real, balanced solution that this crisis requires,鈥� said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) in a written statement. 鈥淣o substantive progress has been made鈥� added House Speaker聽听(搁., Ohio).

No surprise. The GOP doesn鈥檛 want to show any flexibility. Boehner and McConnell will hang tough until the end. Boehner will blame his right flank for not giving him any leeway, as he鈥檚 done before.

It鈥檚 also clear Republicans will seek whatever bargaining leverage they can get from threatening to block an increase in the debt limit 鈥� which will have to rise early next year if the nation鈥檚 full faith and credit is to remain intact.

Meanwhile, the White House has started the bidding with substantial concessions on tax increases and spending cuts.

Haven鈥檛 we been here before? It鈥檚 as if the election never occurred 鈥� as if the Republicans hadn鈥檛 lost six or seven seats in the House and three in the Senate, as if Obama hadn鈥檛 won reelection by a greater number of votes than George W. Bush in 2004.

And as if the fiscal cliff that automatically terminates the Bush tax cuts weren鈥檛 just weeks away.听聽聽

D茅j脿 vu all over again.

But if it鈥檚 really going to be a repeat of the last round, we might still be in luck. Remember, the last round resulted in no agreement. And no agreement now may be better than a bad agreement that doesn鈥檛 raise taxes on the wealthy nearly enough while cutting far too much from safety nets most Americans depend on.

If Republicans won鈥檛 budge and we head over the fiscal cliff, the Clinton tax rates become effective January 1 鈥� thereby empowering the White House and Democrats in the next congress to get a far better deal.听聽