By: Terence Burlij and Katelyn Polantz
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., both spent Sunday talking about increasing revenue. Photo by Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call.
President Obama and congressional leaders are expected to resume negotiations in the coming days with the aim of averting the so-called "fiscal cliff" set to arrive in just over five weeks' time.
Judging by discussions on the Sunday talk shows, it appears some Republicans are willing to meet the president and his Democratic allies at least part way when it comes to revenues.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he was "willing to generate revenue" but remained opposed to raising tax rates.
"I will cap deductions. If you cap deductions around the $30,000, $40,000 range, you can raise $1 trillion in revenue, and the people who lose their deductions are the upper-income Americans," Graham said during an appearance on ABC News' "This Week."
That position, however, puts him at odds with Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform and author of the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge", which many Republican lawmakers have signed.
"I agree with Grover, we shouldn't raise rates, but I think Grover is wrong when it comes to we can't cap deductions and buy down debt," Graham said. "I want to buy down debt and cut rates to create jobs, but I will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if Democrats will do entitlement reform."
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., joined Graham in talking down the anti-tax pledge, rejecting "ironclad positions" in negotiating a compromise package on the deficit.
"A pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago, is for that Congress," King told NBC News' "Meet the Press."
King added: "For instance, if I were in Congress in 1941, I would have signed a declaration of war against Japan. I'm not going to attack Japan today. The world has changed. And the economic situation is different."
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., joined the chorus Monday, telling CBS News that he was "not obligated on the pledge."
But Democrats signaled that Republicans would need to accept higher rates and not just additional revenues if a deal was going to happen.
"Let the rates go up to 39 percent," Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said on ABC. "Let us also take a look at the deductions. Let's make sure that revenue is an integral part of deficit reduction."
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., expressed a similar viewpoint on NBC. "You've got to raise additional revenues, including tax rates on the wealthy," he said.
The Obama administration sought to drive home the point Monday with the release of a report from the National Economic Council and the Council of Economic Advisers showing how consumer spending and retail sales would be impacted if taxes on middle-class Americans were to increase on Jan. 1.
Among the findings from the report:
Faced with these tax hikes, the CEA estimates that consumers could spend nearly $200 billion less than they otherwise would have in 2013 just because of higher taxes.
For his part, Durbin indicated Democrats should be willing to put entitlement reform on the table if Republicans agreed to higher tax rates.
"Social Security, set aside. Doesn't add to the deficit," Durbin argued. "But when it comes to Medicare and Medicaid, protect the integrity of the program, but give it solvency for more and more years."
Until the question over tax rates can be resolved, however, piecing together the rest of the fiscal puzzle, including entitlement reform, will likely remain unsolved.
