To move beyond the sequester, Republicans and Democrats must figure out what they can give up to get what they really want, Steuerle writes.?
The US Capitol Building is pictured in Washington. Each party is fiercely fighting to compel the other to ask the middle class for the inevitable ? to give up something to restore balance to the budget, Steuerle writes.
Jason Reed/Reuters
EnlargeI would like to propose a simple plan that would let Republicans and Democrats avoid a blunt, across-the-board sequester that fails to set priorities. It would give both parties something they want without abandoning their core principles. And it would strengthen the party making the proposal by putting the other on the spot if it fails to move toward a moderate compromise.
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Republicans should offer to let the president meet the sequester?s deficit targets through his choice of spending cuts, including from entitlements. Yes, they would cede some power over a moderate share of total spending, but they would retain their primary goal: forcing Democrats to tackle the spending side of the budget.
Democrats should replace their demand that the sequester include tax increases with a simpler requirement that the rich shoulder their fair share of any spending reductions. Yes, Democrats would give up their goal of balancing spending cuts with tax increases, but they would retain their more basic aim: progressivity.
To understand why these strategies would work, we have to go back to the root causes of the impasse. Each party is fiercely fighting to compel the other to ask the middle class for the inevitable?to give up something to restore balance to the budget. But each considers it political suicide to take the lead. Just think back to the presidential campaign, when Barack Obama and Mitt Romney indicated support for Medicare cuts, only to be viciously attacked by the other.?
