Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) came out in favor of allowing tax rates on the wealthy return to Clinton-era levels, arguing on “Fox News Sunday” that Republicans don’t have a lot of cards in their hand when it comes to negotiations. Corker argued that once Republicans concede on tax rates, they will have more leverage to negotiate on the spending side of a debt deal, namely entitlement reform. “I actually am beginning to believe that is the best route for us to take,” he said.
“There is a growing group of folks that are looking at this and realizing that we don’t have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year end,” Corker said. “So, a lot of people are putting forth a theory, and I actually think it has merit, where you go ahead and give the president the 2 percent increase that he’s talking about, the rate increase on the top two percent. And all of a sudden the shift goes back to entitlements… The focus then shifts to entitlements and maybe that puts us in a place where we actually can do something that really saves this nation. So there is a growing body — I actually am beginning to believe that is the best route for us to take, to again shift the focus where it needs to be, which is on entitlements.”
