“It’s difficult to get into hypotheticals without seeing what they’re actually moving forward with,’’ Brown said, commenting on which pieces he could accept in any such deal.
Asked for further elaboration about Brown’s stance on any tax increases, a spokesman declined to comment.
Centrist Republicans such as Brown and Snowe, who are up for reelection next year, would probably pay a steeper political price if they opposed a deal with tax increases and the resulting impasse delivered the country into default, rather than if they supported such a plan, said Linda J. Bilmes, senior public policy lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
“There is more risk for them - significantly more risk for them - in leading the country into a default situation,’’ she said.
Brown, Snowe, and Collins say that constituents have been clamoring for a resolution to the issue, with many particularly concerned about whether Social Security checks will go out if the sides are unable to broker a deal.
“I return home to Maine nearly every weekend, and people are telling me that they are frustrated with the lack of progress in Washington. They understand that this is a very serious situation, and they want this current impasse to end and an agreement to be reached,’’ Collins said.
After months of talks over crafting a long-term plan to stanch the government’s red ink, the pivotal issue continues to be whether it would include tax increases.
President Obama has called for ending some corporate tax loopholes and the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush for the richest 2 percent of Americans to raise $1 trillion over a decade.
That would be combined with $3 trillion in spending cuts, including from such entitlement programs as Social Security and Medicare.
Republicans have publicly said they will only support a package of spending cuts.
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