Your tax argument is lame, Europe has had higher rates of taxation and I do not see their wealthy escaping to heaven locations other than Phil Collins!

Any increase in taxes will cause the unemployment rate to skyrocket. We could see 12% or more unemployment, as job creators let people go to cover the higher taxes. And it won’t be just the so-called rich who will pay. The very wealth can simply export themselves and their capital out of the country. There are countries that would love to have the money of the US wealthy to create economic prosperity in their countries. Exporting capital reduces the tax base, and once the very wealth have left the country and taken their money with them, some other group has to fill in the gap. So the middle class gets it socked to them.

If congress were to prohibit the exportation of capital, there would be those who would find a way around it. There always is a way around a restriction. So, let the Democrats have their hefty tax hike to reduce the deficit, and let’s watch the unemployment rate skyrocket. Lets watch inflation skyrocket. Let’s watch medium size businesses leave the United States for China or the Philippines, while small businesses simply shut down.

Alas, I’ve stopped reading the Times since they went to a partial online subscription service, so I missed both Tribe’s and Fish’s contributions. But, to your point, indeed, I want both parties to look into the abyss. That’s the incentive to compromise, isn’t it? When they see their own political survival at stake, they will deal. Not before.

Jack