Bill Kristol Encourages Flexibility on Taxes

Kevin Glass | November 12, 2012 10:45 AM

Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol said yesterday on Fox News Sunday that a more mature conversation must be had on the U.S. Fiscal Cliff - the set of deficit-shrinking policies scheduled to take place at the end of the year that would both cut government spending and raise taxes.

“I don’t really understand why Republicans don’t take Obama’s offer to freeze taxes for everyone below $250,000 — make it $500,000, make it a million,” Kristol argued. “Really? The Republican Party is going to fall on its sword to defend a bunch of millionaires, half of whom voted Democratic and half of them live in Hollywood?”

This line of thinking is becoming increasingly common amongst Republicans and conservatives nowadays. Progressives in the media are encouraging President Obama and Democrats in Congress not to bail on the game of chicken and just allow the set of policies that encompass the fiscal cliff to come to pass and then retroactively deal with the problems created. If that's the case, Republicans might have little to bargain for - but the progressives might still find that Republicans have a little fight in them yet.