The New York Times reports on the new "Gang of Six," which is working to deliver a bipartisan plan on debt reduction:
The senators have weathered criticism from bloggers and even colleagues, including the leaders of their own parties, who oppose tampering with Social Security or taxes. The gang nearly collapsed several times, including two weeks ago.
The group’s oldest members — Senator Richard J. Durbin, 66, a progressive from Illinois who counts the Senate’s only socialist as a friend and ally, and Senator Saxby Chambliss, 67, a genial Georgia conservative whose nasty first campaign left lingering bad feelings among Democrats, and who is a confidant of Speaker John A. Boehner — illustrate that even with the mounting federal debt intensifying the partisan divide over spending and taxes, the severity of the fiscal threat is forging unlikely alliances.
If Mr. Durbin and Mr. Chambliss can cut a deal on Social Security and new tax revenues, their associates say, then just maybe all of Washington can come together.
Like the previous "Gang of Six," I have no doubt that this group can come to a deal on Social Security and new tax revenues; absent the pressure of an entire congressional caucus, individual Republicans are completely capable of showing ideological flexibility. This seems obvious, but the political viability of a deal has more to do with conditions outside of the group than it does with the actual participants. That Max Baucus could reach an agreement with Olympia Snowe during health-care reform negotiations was less important than the Republican Party's decision to stand categorically against the Democratic agenda.
Likewise, it doesn't particularly matter if Saxby Chambliss is willing to support a tax increase. Not only is the GOP committed to an anti-tax ideology, but conservative activists have extremely little tolerance for ideological heterodoxy. When push comes to shove -- given the examples of last year -- Chambliss has every reason to vote against a final deal, even if it's favorable to his interests.
Bipartisanship is nice, but ultimately, cross-aisle comity does nothing to change the basic political landscape: Democrats want to preserve the welfare state, Republicans want to dismantle it.
