The Economist: Democracy in America, American Politics!

The Democrats and the Fiscal Cliff: Not much on the table. Democrats say it so often that it has become something of a mantra: There will be no deal to resolve America's fiscal mess, unless Republicans agree to higher tax rates on the richest Americans, but they seldom talk about their side of that bargain. The cost cutting reforms to such entitlements as Medicare, the goverment's health care scheme for the old,and Social Security, its pension scheme, that they are expected to offer in return. As more and more Republicans grudgingly accept the prospect of higher taxes, the Democrats will soon have to decide what they can stomach on entitlement reform. To judge by Obama's latest offer in his negotiations with John Boehner, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the answer is, not much. The president will not even discuss Social Security, the White House says, on the ground that it is not a big contributor to the deficit. As for Medicare, the president is willing to make relatively modest savings by passing more of the cost of the program to drug companies by haggling for lower prices, and to the rich, by making them pay more for their coverage. Neither of these ideas, while sensible enough in itself, is remotely radical enough for Republicans' tastes. Nor is the sum the president proposed to save the result: $400 billion, just a quarter of the $1.6 trillion he is seeking in tax increases. Such tough talk delights the left, however. Mr Obama's stance, says the AFL- CIO, America's biggest trade union federation,"keeps faith with the voters". Bernie Sanders, a senator who describes himself as a socialist, has commended the president for his refusal to touch Social Security. "Thanks for fighting to end Bush tax cuts for top 2%", tweeted Move On, a left wing pressure group. Such outfits are anxious to dissuade Mr Obama from repeating the offer he made to the Republican leadership last year, during their previous round of negotiations on the budget. At the time, he expressed willingness to raise the age of eligibility for Medicare, and to use a stingier method to increase Social Security payments in line with inflation.