House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and other top Republicans “shot down a proposal by a senior GOP lawmaker that the House agree to President Obama’s demand to extend current tax rates for the middle class,” The Hill reports.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), “a respected party strategist and former chairman of the House GOP campaign committee, became the most prominent House Republican to suggest that the GOP do what has long been unthinkable within the party: lock in the George W. Bush-era tax rates for income up to $250,000 without simultaneously extending them for top earners.”

Said Boehner: “We’re not going to grow the economy if we raise tax rates on the top two rates. It’ll hurt small businesses. It’ll hurt our economy. That’s why it’s not the right approach. We’ll willing to put revenue on the table as long as we’re not raising rates.”

First Read notes the current negotiations over avoiding the “fiscal cliff” essentially amounts “to running in
circles, because the real negotiations won’t take place until
mid-to-late December. The reason: Washington typically needs hard
deadlines to force members to act. But there is something quite
significant that’s going on during this running-in-circles period.
Republicans and Democrats are beginning to prepare their own bases for
what the deal will ultimately look like.”

National Journal:
“The Kumbaya rhetoric and photo-ops between President Obama and
congressional leaders surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff are
starting to wear thin. … For all of the optimism surrounding the initial
meetings between leaders, very little progress has been made….”

Politico:
“This is the public relations phase of the latest fiscal showdown in
Washington, where direct engagement is no longer viewed as the optimal
route to reaching a deal. As Wall Street shudders and Congress once
again risks looking feckless in the face of crisis, both sides are
locked in a battle to win over key interest groups — and the public.”

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) urged colleagues in a private session “to vote to extend the Bush tax rates for all but the highest earners before the end of the year — and to battle over the rest later,” Politico reports.

The conservative Republican said that he believes such a vote would not violate Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge and that he’s not alone within Republican circles. He also said it would “rob the president of the argument that Republicans are holding up tax cuts for all but the top earners.”

Said Cole: “I think we ought to take the 98 percent deal right now. It doesn’t mean I agree with raising the top 2. I don’t.”

Wonk Wire: For fiscal cliff deal, the devil is in the details.