Media

With less than a month to go before the fiscal cliff deadline, there is no time for political posturing or rigid demands. Yet President Obama's opening offer in the fiscal cliff negotiations is so extreme and irresponsible that it has significantly undermined the process before discussions have even gotten off the ground.

Weekly Standard - John McCormack

Speaking Friday afternoon with THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Oklahoma congressmanTom Cole, a Republican who has emerged this week as an advocate of compromising on taxes, panned President Obama's proposal to avert the fiscal cliff.

"I think honestly the president’s initial proposal is just laughable," Cole told me. "There’s no spending restraints. There’s very little entitlement reform. He’s asking to essentially double the revenue that he’s asked for in the past."

Tulsa World - Randy Krehbiel

U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., thinks he was only stating the obvious when he told a roomful of Republican members of Congress they should go along with Democrats in making temporary tax-rate reductions permanent for 98 percent of Americans.

Politico - Tom Cole: John Boehner will make ‘tough’ fiscal cliff deal

Republican Rep. Tom Cole, the Oklahoma congressman who has called for a quick extension of middle class tax cuts, offered praise on Thursday for House Speaker John Boehner.

“I think the Speaker’s doing a great job,” Cole said on CNN’s “Starting Point.” “I think at the end of the day, he’ll negotiate a tough deal. Every time he’s done that, I’ve been there and voted for that and tried to persuade others. I haven’t seen the deal yet, but I suspect I’ll be there again.”

Washington Post - Aaron Blake

Much of the news coverage of the so-called “fiscal cliff” in recent days has focused on whether Republicans are willing to violate their Grover Norquist-sponsored pledge not to vote to raise taxes.

But what if the the Norquist pledge doesn’t even apply to the current situation?

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) doesn’t think it does. And Norquist and his group — Americans for Tax Reform — aren’t saying that Cole is wrong.

National Journal - Michael Catalini

Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra on Wednesday said lawmakers should consider every option to solve the fiscal cliff only to backtrack moments later by arguing against reforming Social Security or Medicare.

"Everything should be on the table. Period," said Becerra, the vice chairman of the Democratic caucus.

He then quickly contradicted himself by arguing that Social Security shouldn't be targeted because it doesn't contribute to the deficit and the Affordable Care Act has already adequately reformed Medicare.

Bloomberg - Kathleen Hunter & Roxana Tiron

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein is among the executives scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama today. The president is seeking business support for his campaign to extend tax cuts for middle-income Americans while letting rates rise for top earners.

Whether or not one agrees with his policies and political philosophy, it is irrefutable that President Obama's administration has been characterized by a noticeable tendency to go outside the legislative process to enact his policy priorities via regulation. Even the New York Times has noted "an increasingly deliberate pattern by the administration to circumvent lawmakers." The Wall Street Journal explained this pattern simply: "Mr. Obama proposes, Congress refuses, he does it anyway."