Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) told Fox News on Monday that the “political reality of the president’s victory” means signers of Grover Norquist’s no new taxes pledge will have to “wrestle” with the idea of including new revenues in a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. Sessions has signed the pledge in the past, but suggested Monday he is now open to new revenue. Like other Republicans who have made similar statements in recent days, Sessions said he still believed taxes do not need to go up.
“I signed it and I absolutely believe we don’t have to raise taxes now. We can get this country spending under control through frgual management and good effective management of this out of control government, but we’ve got to deal with the crisis we face,” Sessions said. “We have to deal with the political reality of the president’s victory. So we’ll wrestle with all of that as we go forward but i want to see and insist that this money be used to reduce the deficit if there is any revenue coming in.”
The Alabama Senator pointed out that one of the most vocal Republicans walking away from the Norquist pledge, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), wasn’t breaking new ground.
“Lindsey has said that before. This is not new,” he said. “He is conditioning any tax increase fixing [entitlement] programs, Social Security and Medicare particularly, making sure they’re sound for future. So that is Lindsey’s position.”
