Art of compromise returns

(PNI) The intensely polar, partisan nature of modern American politics has produced a lot of side effects, few of them positive.

Hostility toward Congress -- now "enjoying" an 80 percent disapproval rate, according to the Real Clear Politics average of top polls -- has reached near-historic levels. It has gotten so bad that many frustrated voters now include their own member of Congress in their "throw the bums out" appraisals. Once upon a time, the local guy got a pass. No more.

The partisan rancor has become so strong, in fact, that even in the face of a very lopsided House vote to pass the first federal budget in four years, the predominant post-vote storyline out of Washington is about conflict -- in this case, between House Republican leaders and their conservative "tea party" wing.

"They're misleading their followers," said House Speaker John Boehner. "I just think they've lost all credibility."

Tea-party conservatives have been a strong influence in the Republican Party since galvanizing against President Barack Obama's health-care reforms in 2010. They had successes in those early days -- including the near-historic turnover in the House in 2010.

But lately, tea-party-backed candidates more often have been snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Democratic senators from Indiana, Delaware and Missouri occupy seats that at one time seemed ripe for Republican taking.

So, yes. There is tumult in Republican politics.

But the lopsided, amazingly bipartisan nature of Thursday's House vote suggests something else important may be going on, too. Perhaps leaders of both parties simply have failed to do a decent job of appealing to the "better angels" of their caucuses -- which is to nudge them into accepting certain compromises based on their own political self-interest.

The numbers of Thursday's vote tell a fascinating story about those self-interests.

The overall vote itself, 332-94, is a stunner. But the deeper numbers are more so. As Politico reported, Republicans had promised Democrats 120 votes in favor of the package. They got 171 GOP votes. The same from the other direction: Dem leaders promised 100 and produced 163.

Those numbers strongly suggest that while congressional Republicans may be conservative and even tea-party-oriented, those ideological influences affect members on a sliding scale. Their leaders did not need the surfeit of compromise votes they collected. But they got them, largely from members whose districts are at least marginally competitive.

The Arizona tally reflects that. All four of Arizona's Republican members -- nearly all from strongly conservative GOP districts -- opposed the deal. So did Democrat Raúl Grijalva, one of the most liberal House members, who (not surprisingly) hails from a safely liberal district.

Among the 32 Democrats opposing the deal were liberal stalwarts like John Conyers of Michigan, Louise Slaughter of New York and Peter DeFazio of Oregon.

But the most stunning "no" vote came from a Democratic House leader: Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the second-ranking Democrat. His explanation was even more notable, in that it could have been uttered by any one of the nay-saying Arizona Republicans:

"This agreement is better than the alternative, but it misses a huge opportunity to do what the American people expect us to do, and that is to put this country on a fiscally sustainable path."

All of those harder-line Republicans and Democrats were afforded the luxury of their "conscience" votes by virtue of the willingness of others to compromise.

That willingness to accept something less than ideological purity is in the nature of American politics. It is nice to welcome it back. We could do with more of it.

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Ryan Returns to Spotlight at House Republican Retreat

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — When House Republicans arrived from the nation’s capital in the colonial capital this week, they were greeted by a brigade in traditional garb. Men in tricornered hats twittered away (on the fife), and three founding fathers — Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and George Washington — stopped by to give speeches.

Over two and a half days that ended Friday, Republicans holed up at the stately Kingsmill Resort for their annual retreat tried to game out the year. The resort bills itself as a “golf, spa and luxury hotel,” but few of the members had much time for pleasure; as the majority in the House staring down a Democratic-led Senate and Democratic White House, there was work to be done. Even Speaker John A. Boehner, an obsessive golfer, was unable to slip away for a round. (The chilly damp weather, with a light dusting of snow Thursday evening, didn’t help).

Though the news media were not allowed to attend the official retreat, and were sequestered in a restaurant clubhouse on the property (more on that later), here’s a look at what went on:

And He’s Back

When Representative Paul D. Ryan’s vice-presidential bid ended in November, he returned to Congress but receded into the background, giving few interviews and, save for a high-profile vote in favor of the “fiscal cliff” deal, keeping his head down. But for those wondering about Mr. Ryan’s next act, the answer came into relief Thursday, when he addressed journalists as something of the official spokesman for his conference.

“We think the worst thing for the economy, for this Congress and this administration would be to do nothing to get our debt and deficits under control,” Mr. Ryan said. “We know we have a debt crisis coming. This is not an ‘if’ question, it’s a ‘when’ question.”

There had been some suggestion that Mr. Ryan might be considering a presidential bid in 2016 and despite his perch as Budget Committee chairman, was going to pull a rope-a-dope, allowing the House leadership to shoulder the responsibility on coming fiscal fights. But he took a front-and-center role at the retreat, both in public and behind the scenes.

Mr. Ryan was one of only two legislators officially trotted out before the gathered reporters to speak on the record, and he was the one who gave his fellow members a dose of bitter medicine, warning, “We also have to recognize the realities of the divided government that we have.”

He was also the first to publicly mention that his conference was open to the idea of a short-term extension of the debt limit, which ultimately became the biggest news out of the retreat.

If Williamsburg marked the premiere of the 113th Congressional House Republicans, Mr. Ryan apparently intends to take a starring role.

Debt Limit, Debt Limit

The Republican retreat is meant to be an opportunity for members to discuss the coming year. But the most important strategic decision, it seemed, involved only the first 90 days.

So what does the first quarter of 2013 hold? A possible short-term extension of the debt ceiling, which emerged as a proposal on which nearly the entire conference was able to come to rare consensus. But other than the fiscal wrangling to come, Republicans still trying to get their bearings after the November elections did not seem to delve too deeply into the other big issues they are certain to confront.

When Representative John C. Fleming of Louisiana wandered over to the clubhouse to chat with reporters Thursday afternoon, he said that gun control and immigration — two of three major issues on the White House’s plate — had not even come up.

Another participant later clarified that gun control had been discussed, albeit briefly. The verdict: “In terms of legislation, the Senate will almost certainly act first,” the official said.

Full Cry

Though House Republicans have struggled to marshal the majority of their majority on two big-ticket votes, the bare 218 required to pass legislation is no longer sufficient to satisfy Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority whip.

He wants the “full cry.”

The term “whip,” Mr. McCarthy explained, derives from a fox hunting expression. A “full cry,” he added, is the call made when the dog catches the scent of the fox.

When a “full cry” comes, all of the other dogs — in the case of this metaphor, presumably, the House Republicans — fall into line, pursuing the prey with unified vigor. And this “full cry” is exactly what Mr. McCarthy hopes for from his whip team and conference.

On the first night of the retreat, he even presented members of his whip team with sleek new black jackets — with the “full cry” slogan emblazoned on the sleeve in white letters.

To the Stocks

While the House Republicans were treated to colonial festivities (and breakout session after breakout session), the news media were banished to the stocks, confined to a single room in the clubhouse. When several reporters tried to go to an adjoining room to sit by the fire, they were promptly scolded and told they could leave only to eat or use the bathroom.

Meanwhile, a lectern — with five American flags — had been set up for the possibility of televised news conferences, but on Friday morning, the official word came: There would be no briefings, the House leadership would not be holding a news conference after all. At that point, the assembled reporters began beating a retreat of their own — back to the nation’s capital for the presidential inauguration.

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Mitt Romney to release tax returns Tuesday (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Mitt Romney said on Sunday he will release tax returns for the last two years this week and admitted the flap over his returns hurt him in South Carolina, where he lost a primary to Newt Gingrich.

"I will release my tax returns for 2010, which is the last returns which were completed, on Tuesday of this week," Romney said on Fox News Sunday. "And I will also release at the same time an estimate for 2011 tax returns."

"We made a mistake holding off as long as we did and it just was a distraction," the former Massachusetts governor added.

Gingrich won 40 percent of the vote in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, while Romney came in a distant second with 28 percent.

Romney, one of the wealthiest U.S. presidential candidates in history, emphasized he was releasing two years of returns after Gingrich posted his returns for only 2010 on Thursday.

Gingrich and other Republican rivals attacked Romney in debates last week, asking why the former private equity executive would not release his returns.

Romney had said he would release them in April and also paved the way for the disclosure by saying he paid a tax rate of around 15 percent, below many American wage earners, but in line with wealthy individuals who earn income from investments.

Romney said his returns will be posted on his website.

(Reporting By Mary Milliken; Editing by Philip Barbara)

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Romney to release his tax returns on Tuesday (AP)

WASHINGTON – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Sunday that he will release his 2010 tax returns and 2011 estimates on Tuesday, acknowledging it was a mistake for his campaign not to have done so earlier.

Stung by a loss to Newt Gingrich in Saturday's South Carolina primary, the former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist said it was "not a good week for me" and he cited all the time he had spent talking about his tax returns as his rivals pressed him to make them public.

After months of resistance, Romney had said last week that he would release tax information for 2011, but not until April, close to the tax filing deadline. That also was seen as a time, before the South Carolina race rattled his front-runner status, when the GOP nomination might have been decided.

"I think we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did. It just was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues of the campaign: leadership, character, a vision for America, how to get jobs again in America and how to rein in the excessive scale of the federal government," Romney told "Fox News Sunday."

Romney disclosed on Tuesday that, despite his wealth of hundreds of millions of dollars, he has been paying in the neighborhood of 15 percent, far below the top maximum income tax rate of 35 percent, because his income "comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past."

"Given all the attention that's been focused on tax returns, given the distraction that I think they became in these last couple of weeks," Romney said in the broadcast interview that he would release his 2010 returns and estimates for his 2011 returns at the same time "so there's not a second release down the road."

"We'll be putting our returns on the Internet, people can look through them," Romney said. "It will provide, I think, plenty of information for people to understand that the sources of my income are exactly as described in the financial disclosure statements we put out a couple of months ago.

During 2010 and the first nine months of 2011, the Romney family had at least $9.6 million in income, according to a financial disclosure form submitted in August.

Further focusing attention on his wealth was Romney's offhand remark to reporters that his income from paid speeches amounted to "not very much" money. In the August disclosure statement, he reported being paid $373,327.62 for such appearances for the 12 months ending last February. That sum alone would him in the top 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers.

In addition, Romney owns investments worth between $7 million and $32 million in offshore-based holdings, which are often used legitimately by private equity firms to attract foreign investors. Such offshore accounts also can enable wealthy investors to defer paying U.S. taxes on some assets, according to tax experts.

An Associated Press examination of Romney's financial records identified at least six funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a small Caribbean island chain that has long been used as a base for international investments because of low tax rates and financial secrecy. Romney has acknowledged that some of his investments are based in the Caymans, but he has not identified all of the specific accounts and the amounts based there. There is no indication Romney uses the accounts to dodge any U.S. tax obligations.

"Cayman Islands account so-to-speak is apparently an investment that was made in an entity that invests in the United States, the taxes paid on that are full U.S. taxes," Romney said.

The Caymans have often been associated with individuals and corporations seeking to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It is legal for U.S. residents to own investment accounts that are set up there, if they file the proper forms with the Internal Revenue Service and pay the appropriate taxes.

"I know people will try and find something," Romney said, adding, "We pay full, fair taxes, and you'll see it's a pretty substantial amount."

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