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Hatching a ‘Reasonable Compromise’
National Review Online ^ | 11/8/2010 | Robert Costa

Posted on 11/08/2010 4:56:48 PM PST by Utah Girl

Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah will likely become the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee early next year. From that perch, he’ll oversee the GOP’s tax-writing policy in the upper chamber. Before then, however, Hatch is keeping busy: In coming weeks, he will be one of the leading figures in the battle over extending Bush-era tax rates, which are set to expire at the end of the year.

As he looks ahead, Hatch predicts that there could be a “reasonable compromise” with Democrats and the White House. He urges the president to “come in good faith” to the negotiating table, and to “do this straight up and fair, without demagoguery or phony class warfare.” While Hatch would like to see the entire package of tax cuts made permanent, he tells us that he could support a measure that “extends all tax relief for at least the next three to five years.”

“If Democrats decide to play politics, they’ll try to make some tax cuts last longer than others, letting some expire in two or three years,” Hatch cautions. “But Republicans will not fall for that — we should not fall for that.”

Over the weekend, the president told CBS’s 60 Minutes that he’s open to discussing a compromise with Republicans, that “there’s a basis for a conversation.” But in the interview, and in his weekend video address, Obama maintained that he would like to extend only temporarily tax cuts for those who earn more than $200,000 a year, while making tax breaks for middle-class earners permanent — in other words, setting distinct expiration dates for separate tax levels.

Hatch is no fan of that idea. “We need to get this economy moving, and by extending all of the tax cuts, you provide rate reductions for every American. It’s not just tax cuts for the so-called rich — it’s about boosting the men and women who build those small businesses, as well as their employees,” he argues.

How Obama handles the debate will be a “sign of the president’s willingness to do what’s right,” Hatch says. “Is he willing to chuck out his plan to raise taxes on our job creators? If not, and the president gets his way, only middle-class tax relief will stay in place, while the upper tax brackets increase. That will have a direct — and dire — impact on small-business income and the small-business workforce.”

“The small cadre of people in the White House that put the health-care bills together cannot be the ones driving this,” Hatch continues. “I’ve reached out to him in the past two years to work on health care, but our interactions were limited. In this debate, we have to find ways to work together, for the sake of the economy.”

Obama, Hatch advises, “should take a page out of Bill Clinton’s book; he is intelligent enough to do it. He’s a very bright guy, and I think he has it in him to work with Republicans here. Instead of ridiculing or attacking Republicans, calling us the ‘enemy,’ he can move toward a more centrist approach; he can make some headway. If we can find a way to extend all of these tax cuts, it’ll be in the best interests of his administration — a wake-up moment. If he plays games, it could be downhill until 2012.”

“In the end, the president has to realize that these tax cuts are not about the rich: They’re about stopping the uncertainty,” Hatch says. “Taking over the House, especially in the numbers we did, sent a tremendous message. This year’s election was a referendum and a revolt against the big-government, big-taxing agenda. The American people are screaming: Won’t you just stop and listen? Well, we can start by stopping each and every one of these tax hikes, which are set to hit all Americans on January 1.”


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: again; compromise; orrinhatch; rino; strikes; weakness
Don't count your hatches before they chicken.

Orrin, your time has come and gone. Shaking up your staff won't work for 2012.

1 posted on 11/08/2010 4:56:55 PM PST by Utah Girl
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To: Utah Girl
Hatch.....is just another poster boy for TERM LIMITS!

Period!

He will probably cry like Bennett....when he is defeated.

I've nothing good to say about the guy....

He's the model of a RINO.

2 posted on 11/08/2010 5:00:05 PM PST by Osage Orange
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To: Osage Orange

I’m tired of him reaching across the aisle and being oh so nice. There is a way to be civil and still stick to one’s principles. Orrin doesn’t.


3 posted on 11/08/2010 5:02:09 PM PST by Utah Girl (John 15:12, Matthew 5:44)
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To: Utah Girl

How much easier would it be for mealy-mouthed Republicans to say, simply and clearly, that Democrats and others are not planning to let tax cuts expire. They are planning to raise taxes. In a recession. That’s what “letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire” means: precisely, “I’m raising your taxes.”


4 posted on 11/08/2010 5:04:07 PM PST by Tublecane
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To: Utah Girl
Actually, Hatch may be playing a wily fox here. If the “reasonable compromise” is to extend all the cuts until 2012, then the Dims would have to campaign to raise taxes in the next general. And with their wretched policies and Bernanke’s wretched policies I doubt the economy will be doing much better by 2012 and we could be caught in a gale force inflation.
5 posted on 11/08/2010 5:04:11 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: Utah Girl
Here's a reasonable compromise either extend ALL the cuts by making them permanent or let good ole Barry raise taxes on everyone just about two months after spending hundreds of millions on a nice little vacation for he and Michelle.

As much as I personally need the tax rate to go down further rather than rise at all, it's almost worth it to see this moron explaining how raising taxes is a really, really, good idea.

Regards

6 posted on 11/08/2010 5:05:40 PM PST by Rashputin (Barry is totally insane and being kept medicated and on golf courses to hide the fact)
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To: Utah Girl

I’m with you....


7 posted on 11/08/2010 5:06:13 PM PST by Osage Orange
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To: Utah Girl
Hatch another RINO we must be rid of!!!
8 posted on 11/08/2010 5:06:55 PM PST by CharlesMartelsGhost
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To: Utah Girl

what’s to compromise? we won. get in the back seat and shut up.


9 posted on 11/08/2010 5:21:46 PM PST by paul51 (11 September 2001 - Never forget)
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To: Utah Girl

Hatch talks tough but usually folds up like a cheap suit. He should “Rank” nothing. He will give up in the end. Just like any other RINO.


10 posted on 11/08/2010 5:27:05 PM PST by Nuc 1.1 (Liberals aren't Patriots. Remember 1789!)
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To: Nuc 1.1

This Giant Rino is the leading cheerleader for the DREAM act. Free this and free that for illegals, for cryin outloud!

Heaven help us if he is allowed to lead, or oversee anything more than an anthill in winter.

Hatch—strike three!


11 posted on 11/08/2010 5:44:05 PM PST by petertare (--. of)
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To: Osage Orange

Hatch is another slimy politician who is almost as bad as Lindsay Graham. He doesn’t have a backbone. He’s already looking to play nice with the democrats who want to steamroll the opposition. I bet it feels like a dead fish when you shake this creeps hand.


12 posted on 11/08/2010 6:01:39 PM PST by peeps36 (America is being destroyed by filthy traitors in the political establishment)
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To: peeps36

It’s clear we need term AND AGE limits on those lousy senators! They’re old, senile and USELESS~! Either lead the way to conservative values or retire!


13 posted on 11/08/2010 6:04:56 PM PST by princess leah
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To: Utah Girl

It’s about NOT RAISING TAXES on anyone.


14 posted on 11/08/2010 6:21:35 PM PST by Carley (WE SAW NOVEMBER FROM OUR HOUSE)
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To: Utah Girl

Can’t imagine how tough it must be for him since his best friend, Ted Kennedy died, his words not mine.


15 posted on 11/08/2010 7:38:06 PM PST by itsahoot (We the people allowed Republican leadership to get us here, only God's Grace can get us out.)
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To: petertare

Spot on!


16 posted on 11/10/2010 7:07:41 PM PST by Nuc 1.1 (Liberals aren't Patriots. Remember 1789!)
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