Rep Tom Cole Calls On GOP To Cave Now On Middle Class Taxes

I've said before that the best bargaining strategy for Republicans in the fiscal cliff is to cave immediately and pass Obama's middle class tax cuts (assist from Brian Beutler). Apparently Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma is thinking along the same lines and urging his colleagues to do it. This continues to be a not-very-popular line of thought in DC and has some wondering whether a very rightwing House member from Oklahoma has suddenly gone squishy. I think he's just gone smart. Caving on the middle class tax cuts would hand the White House an important victory. Taxes on the rich would go up, and Republicans wouldn't be able to stop it. On the other hand, they wouldn't need to endorse the Obama tax hike and would remain free to keep campaigning for new tax cuts. More importantly, caving now would leave the budget sequester unresolved. That would create a new fight in which Republica...