Dem: Fiscal Cliff Shouldn't be Some Excuse to Reform Entitlements

A Democratic congresswoman maintained that the imminent plummet off the fiscal cliff shouldn’t be used as an “excuse” for entitlement reform.

“I don’t believe that my Republican colleagues want to see taxes go up on 100 percent, but they do need to come to the table and counter the proposal. If they want changes on entitlements, they need to say what those changes are,” Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) said on MSNBC.

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“I know that where we all draw the line in the sand is, is that there’s ways to find savings everywhere,” she continued. “However, this is not the time to use the fiscal problem as an excuse to completely break the guarantee that we’ve had with the American public for decades.”

When asked whether the bigger problem is revenue or Democrats not wanting entitlements touched, Bass responded, “Grover Norquist.”

“You had several Republicans who expressed that they were willing to moderate their view, and that they felt their most important pledge was to the U.S. Constitution and not to Grover Norquist,” she said. “What did Grover Norquist do? He took their quotes, he called them up, he had conversations with them, and he read them line-by-line their quote, and then essentially threatened them with primaries. He’s the problem. I think if Grover Norquist wants to run government, he needs to run for office.”

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“The other question is, will John Boehner lead his caucus, or will his caucus lead him?” Bass continued. “And so, if John Boehner leads his caucus, then he will be able to identify 100 votes, 120 votes. He can come over and talk to the Democrats and say, ‘Do you have 100 votes, 120 votes that we can put together, and get this deal done?'”

 

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