Fiscal cliff negotiations, which are presently deadlocked in Washington, need to be about compromise, according to one Wisconsin congressman. U.S. Representative Ron Kind said everybody knows what needs to happen, in order to avert going over the fiscal cliff. “I equate it to the Middle East peace process,” the La Crosse Democrat said. “We know what the end game looks like. We’ve got to figure out the political process, and the will to get there.” Easier said than done, as both the Obama administration and House Republicans appear dug in on the fiscal cliff, with no direct negotiations planned.
Kind said every bipartisan commission has concluded that a long-term solution will require additional revenues, and major spending reforms. In a word, compromise. “For those of who want to support a long-term deficit reduction agreement, we’re going to be voting with one hand, and hold our nose with the other hand,” said Kind. “Compromise by definition means having to accept some things that you normally wouldn’t.”
Other members of the state’s congressional delegation have weighed in on the issue. “The President and Congressional Democrats have called for a ‘balanced’ approach to reducing the deficit,” wrote Republcan Representative Jim Sensenbrenner in his weekly column. “But their approach has been anything but balanced. The President’s “offer” included $1.6 trillion dollars in taxes and $400 billion in spending cuts. That’s neither balanced nor helpful for our economy.”
Representative Tom Petri, a Republican from Fond du Lac, said recently that he believes will reach a compromise on a long-term agreement that gets the country’s financial affairs in order.
