John McCormack is a staff writer atThe Weekly Standard .
In his New York Times column Monday, David Brooks writes that Republicans opposed to tax hikes as a part of a debt limit deal "have no sense of moral decency." The column happens to include a rather conspicuous typo:
If the Republican Party were a normal party, it would take advantage of this amazing moment. It is being offered the deal of the century: trillions of dollars in spending cuts in exchange for a few hundred million dollars of revenue increases.
But Obama isn't asking for "a few hundred million dollars" in tax increases. He wants $418 billion in tax hikes, according to anonymous Democratic officials. (A deal hasn't been presented for public viewing, so we don't know for sure which taxes Obama wants to raise, or whether his proposed budget cuts are real cuts or imaginary ones that rely on gimmickry.)
Perhaps Brooks will still find Republicans unreasonable, irresponsible, moral degenerates for refusing to break their pledges not to raise taxes. (I have to ask: Is Obama a fanatic for taking Obamacare off the table?) But it would be nice if he could make it clear that we're talking hundreds of billions, not millions, in tax hikes.
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