The Hill: “Democrats are planning to capitalize on the Republican Party’s poor handling of the recent fiscal showdown by parlaying it into another legislative victory. Congressional Democrats want Republicans to sign off on $50 billion worth of tax increases to eliminate the sequester’s automatic spending cuts. The next phase of these cuts will take effect Jan. 15, when government funding will drop from $986 billion to $967 billion.”
Susan Page sat down with Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who expressed optimism that some deals could be brokered. And if it’s not the Budget Committee, then her informal group of senators can get it done. "We desperately need an overhaul of our tax code to make it simpler, fairer, more pro-growth; perhaps we could work on that issue. If the Budget Committee cannot come up with a long-term fiscal plan, I think our committee could try to tackle that issue."