Posted on 07/17/2011 4:12:56 PM PDT by CedarDave
Former Sen. Pete Domenici retired from Congress in 2009, but as we’ve noted here before, he hasn’t retired from working on the nation’s fiscal problems.
For the past couple of years, the New Mexico Republican has been reporting to work at the increasingly influential Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank with the admirable goal of trying to encourage bipartisan solutions to the nation’s challenges.
For the past several weeks, Domenici has been up on Capitol Hill seeking an audience with just about any member of Congress who would listen. His message? Put your ideology aside and get to work on a compromise to raise the nation’s debt ceiling or watch America’s economic crisis just get worse. And yes, that includes some kind of tax increase, the Republican stalwart said.
The former Senate Budget Committee chairman said he suspects some Americans – and maybe even a few members of Congress – don’t understand the nature of the debate.
“It’s a matter of some disappointment that we find ourselves in this position as a nation,” Domenici said.
Domenici said he isn’t enthusiastic about the Democratic proposal to raise taxes on families making more than $250,000 per year, but he said if he were in office he could vote to close some corporate tax loopholes in exchange for revising the corporate tax code.
“I would put taxes on the table and I would vote for some kind of revenues, but I would not let myself get drawn into trying to make this a rich versus poor situation,” Domenici said. “But I do believe there are revenues to be obtained by closing out loopholes.”
“We’ve got to put a plan together to compromise and get it right,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
The Rats want a 3-1 mix of spending cuts to tax increases. As Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio put it on FNS this morning, its just the same old Charlie Brown/Lucy cartoon scenario: Lucy promises to hold the football but yanks it away at the last second and CB ends up on his butt. We know the Rats will take the tax increases but never give up the spending. For once the Pubbie Rinos have to hold the line and not give the opportunity for the Dems to spend more of our children's money with an increased debt ceiling.
NM list PING! Click on the flag to go to the Free Republic New Mexico message page.
(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for anyone to use. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list. For ABQ Journal articles requiring a subscription, scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the article for free after watching a short video commercial.)
Another BLUE blood republican.
“But I do believe there are revenues to be obtained by closing out loopholes.”
I think they should close the bottom 47% pay no income tax and the earned income credit loopholes.
Every compromise with a Democrat is s step in the wrong direction.
People need to get over the idea of getting along and start thinking about getting it right.
If the Republicans had a collective brain they would make this about ‘the children’ and hang the albatross of a future of debt for our children around the necks of the democrats. They should point out that all the programs the democrats are harping about saving, like medical research funding, have been hit hard by the current administration's policies, and will be defunct if we continue to bankrupt the country.
Republicans need to remember that this is like tennis. When you have the power (e.g. it's ‘your serve’) you have to hit hard and score aces. The other side always does this.
Charlie Brown indeed. The Stupid Party was just too afraid and/or stupid to demand a fresh scorable budget out of dumbo and the senate dims. That should have been a requirement to restart the talks after July 4th. Instead we endured a couple weeks of jive from barry while the Reps bumbled around.
We have seen this movie before. The ending is not good.
He spent too much time in DC, and is too moderate for my tastes, but Pete and the Domenici family are from modest roots and pretty much salt of the earth. His cousin still works full time at the gun/fishing store he founded almost 40 years ago, and is 81!
He suspects some Americans & maybe even a few members of Congress don’t understand the nature of the debate. This coming from a former Senator that retired due to the early stages of Alzheimers. Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Pete - Please STFU and enjoy retirement!
Pete You Idiots should have thought of this before, you spent money,that WAS NOT yours like PIGS!!
Put your ideology aside and get to work on a compromise to raise the nation’s debt ceiling or watch America’s economic crisis just get worse. And yes, that includes some kind of tax increase, the Republican stalwart said.
He evidently still does not understand the math. We simply cannot afford the level of government spending we have. It has been financed by debt for years and the country's credit card is maxed out.
We simply must take a disciplined, triage approach to spending. The word no must be in our vocabulary. No to military involvement in Libya. No to funding any entitlements for illegal aliens. Caps on medical treatment costs for both Medicare and Medicaid. Forcing people to take responsibility for lifestyle choices with higher co-pays for smokers and the obese.
The class envy, "tax the rich" policy is fatally flawed. First, it ignores the fact that the rich are now paying the lion share of all taxes. When over 50% pay no income tax, there is a problem. They get services and need to pay something. The tax-the-rich policy also suffers from the delusion that the rich will not take steps to shelter their income and assets - like moving it off shore. If you want to kill private sector job growth, increase the taxes on the wealthy. The problem is not that the rich pay too little in taxes but that the government spends like drunken sailors...
Obama and the democrats have pissed away
Four Trillion Dollars in two years and Pete
wants to compromise ?Get a grip !
End the madness !
Who is paying this guy???
Pete Domenici? Well that’s it then I’m all for a compromise too.....
“No to funding for illegal aliens”...God only knows how much of our taxes wind up going, through the myriad federal, state and local programs, to criminal non-citizens. From welfare, Section 8 housing, medical care, in-state tuition, subsidized loans and taxpayer-provided legal services just to mention the obvious. It is a shell game of large and small programs provided directly by government and through various tax-funded non-governmental agencies. I believe this aspect of government spending alone would dwarf any ‘revenue’ increases the Demagogues are determined to squeeze out of the productive class. And then there is the entire Takings Coalition made up of nominal citizens.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.