Color me skeptical

Are some of the most conservative Republican Senators really considering tax increases as part of an overall deficit-reduction package? I'll believe it when I see it. My guess is that it will either a) be limited to eliminating tax credits that are really social spending in disguise or b) "on the table" is merely a theoretical term to them and there's no chance they'll ever do it. If anything can be said about the GOP since Bush I raised taxes, it's that they are so fanatically anti-tax that they'd practically rather see the country burn than raise a single tax on a single billionaire. Nor do I think that either they or the Democrats will seriously overhaul Social Security and Medicare. The GOP is counting on the votes of senior citizens and the Democrats cannot afford to look weaker on protecting the vulnerable than the GOP. Likewise Defense is off the table; in a time of (eternal) war, neither side is going to be willing to seriously cut spending there. True, they could come together like mature adults and take the hit together for the country, but there's not a snowball's chance in hell that will ever happen. Not unless the country really does start burning, and probably not even then. The result of no new taxes and over half the budget (Defense, Medicare, Social Security) off limits: massive deficits as far as the eye can see.