Seib: Fiscal Cliff Deal Will Boil Down to Tax Rates

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It's bankers.

I took for more on this fiscal cliff and -- supposedly negotiations and whether or not we came expecting a deal by the end of the year -- -- -- very sad Clusty journal's Washington bureau chief.

Terry -- everywhere -- seems to think we're gonna get a deal market clearly seems to think we're gonna get a deal but the only thing we know is that they've had constructive talks.

Do we have any.

Decent deet -- as -- what they're even talking about.

Well yes it it is sort of the Connecticut has -- -- -- -- it.

Look at the two things have changed there there -- there at the body language is different OK so everybody got together last week at the very top the president and congressional leaders literally join arms to some extent and -- we're gonna get this done that's different from what we saw a year ago when there was a failure in the summer of 2011 so that's good.

That body language was right.

And I think everybody agrees generally -- -- rich was just referring to which is that you solve this.

With a kind of a two step process -- get a down payment made this year you don't solve that the giant four trillion dollar deficit reduction package in a couple of weeks.

But you make some symbolic down payments on revenue increases and spending cuts now set targets until the congressional committees do your job figure out how we meet meet these targets next year.

All that's fine.

The elephant in the room though is that that the one that I still can't figure out how we get around which is the fact that.

The White House says.

We will not going to next year unless the top tax rate on the upper 2% of taxpayers has been raised and everybody else is is is blocked in the place at current levels.

And the Republicans who say we're not gonna raise tax rates how do they get around that problem that's really what this boils down to.

Right that ought to be some sort of compromise hopefully million dollars or something on the higher and OK but.

I think the American people are just overall annoyed that -- even down to this I agree with you let's sort of kick the can into next year so they could think it through properly.

But we knew this was happening all along we -- -- into next year it could take all of next year to solve this problem.

Well -- or maybe not -- look there was this thing called election -- nobody thought they could have a serious conversation during a campaign season that probably was right.

And -- I had some conversations with people on both sides of this over the last month or so.

-- Anderson you know heightened that it it is gonna start over again this -- -- we really don't have to start over again.

Everybody knows what everybody else thinks we spent six months last year going back and forth and back and forth on this there's nothing new to say they're simply.

I need to have an agreement and I think he suggested one of the waging get around this problem you can play around with the tax rate increase on upper income Americans maybe you're talking about people who were.

Over a million dollars not over 250000 -- or maybe instead of going from 35% to 39 point 6% which is what's in the books now unless something happens.

You go to 37%.

I mean there are obvious ways to create a compromise here.

If both sides want to do that.

Promise -- the compromise is not going to be the word used right it's gonna be with the Republicans caved.

And it's still gonna come out -- at the end -- I I actually think there's going to be deductions on the table.

I think we're gonna see a lot of changes at the end of the day that will be so -- compromises.

But it won't be -- to the press that went well it.

Well I think it depends you know I think it depends on how Republicans that describe what they're doing on their own terms you know.

What what everybody really agrees ought to happen here that sensible is let's get past a fairly sterile debate about about a tax rate that's temporary.

And get to a real tax reform conversation which take apart the rates do something more sensible that's more economically efficient.

At lower rates for everybody with with a better set an -- a less expansive set of deductions.

In then you can have more revenue with lower rates and that's really.

The this for the pot at the at that the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.

You gotta get from here -- there but that's not beyond the imagination a man you just have to have the politics right between now and the end of the year.

I love your optimism too that your opinion out there Gerri let's try and you to mediate them.

OK I hadn't taken serious at the -- -- thank you sir bags are coming out.

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Seib: Fiscal Cliff Deal Will Boil Down to Tax Rates

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