President Obama “plans to try to ratchet up public pressure on Congress to accept his ideas for resolving the looming tax-and-spending crisis with a series of events at the White House and on the road this week,” the New York Times reports.

First Read: “While Team Obama is beginning to increase its activity as we get closer to the fiscal cliff deadline at the end of the year — we learned yesterday that Obama chatted over the phone with House Speaker John Boehner on Saturday (along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) — the reality is that everyone is going to run in circles over the next couple of weeks. Why? Because Washington typically needs the pressure of a deadline to get things done. There’s more of a chance for getting a deal in mid to late December. That’s just the nature of how this process works. And by the way, it’s what the negotiators themselves know. All of them have privately expressed an interest to hit the fast forward button on the DVR and simply get to the end game.”

The Economist: “The door is open to a deal; the hard part is walking through it.”

Private talks between President Obama and top congressional leaders in search of a deal to avoid the year-end “fiscal cliff” are accelerating, the Washington Post reports.

Obama telephoned House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) over the weekend, “in a sign that high-level negotiations are advancing with only weeks to go before an automatic series of spending cuts and tax hikes starts to hit nearly every American.”

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports Obama “is ramping up the White House’s postelection effort to generate public support for his preferred package of tax increases and spending cuts.”

The Economist: “By any standard other than the absurdly high one he has set himself,
though, Mr Norquist continues to dominate Washington’s tax debate.
Almost all revenue-raising proposals hinge on eliminating deductions,
rather than raising marginal rates. If Mr Obama does succeed in raising
the income-tax rate for the richest, it will have taken him two
elections and all manner of fiscal face-offs and crises to get his
way–and success is still far from assured. Even scrapping an
economically nonsensical subsidy for ethanol, it seems, is still a
highly controversial move. Grover is not over yet.”

BuzzFeed: Four reasons not to count Grover Norquist out.

David Corn says the idea that President Obama “caved in” on the Bush tax cuts in 2010 is a myth.

“Obama didn’t wave the white flag in 2010. He turned a face-off over the Bush tax cuts into an opportunity to enact a second stimulus that he otherwise could not get past Senate Republicans. His failure at that time was not that he mustered insufficient mettle; he failed to convey to the world that he had ju-jitsued the GOPers.”

“I’m not obligated on the pledge. I made Tennesseans aware, I was just elected, the only thing I’m honoring is the oath I take when I serve, when I’m sworn in this January.”

— Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), quoted by the Washington Post, becoming the latest GOP lawmaker to buck the anti-tax pledge.

“Grover Norquist is an impediment to good governing and… the only good thing about Grover Norquist is he’s named after a character from Sesame Street.”

— Former Bush strategist Matthew Dowd, quoted by ABC News, on the anti-tax crusader.

Wonk Wire: Norquist tax pledge begins to crumble.

A new CNN/ORC poll finds 53% of the country has an unfavorable view of the Republican Party and only 42% want to see congressional Republican have more influence than the president over the direction the nation takes in the next two years. And seven in ten say the GOP has not done enough to cooperate with Obama.

All of that helps explain why more Americans would blame the Republicans in Congress rather than Obama if the fiscal cliff provisions actually go into effect next year, 45% to 34%.

“I will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if Democrats will do entitlement reform.”

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in an interview on ABC News, on his willingness to break his pledge not to raise taxes.

As Congress faces negotiations about averting the “fiscal cliff,” Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) told WMAZ-TV that he’s not willing to be bound by the anti-tax pledge he once signed.

Said Chambliss: “I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge.”

When asked if he thought anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist would hold it against him during his next re-election bid in 2014, he said he probably would.

“But I don’t worry about that because I care too much about my country. I care a lot more about it than I do Grover Norquist.”

Wonk Wire has the details of an emerging framework for compromise.

The Week: “In the wake of President Obama’s re-election, the Republican Party’s reigning anti-tax ideologue is getting some rare push-back from his associates.”

Greg Sargent: “Some leading liberals and Dems are hoping the White House — if the fiscal talks break down — will prove willing to let us all go over the fiscal cliff and let all the Bush tax cuts expire. That way Dems could return in 2013 and pass the tax cuts for those under $250,000 again — the Obama tax cuts for the middle class! — while leaving taxes on the rich at Clinton-era levels.”

However, the AP reports that the White House regards this idea “frostily.” 

Leading lawmakers expressed confidence that they could reach a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff” even as they laid down markers on taxes and spending that may make any agreement more difficult, Reuters reports.

“Republicans and Democratic leaders have agreed on a framework to reform the tax code and government benefit programs next year, but first need to prevent across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts due to begin in January that could push the economy back into recession.”

Wonk Wire: Time for the Obama tax cuts?

Congressional leaders said they have agreed to a fast-paced negotiation process to broker a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In an unusual display of bipartisanship, the four congressional leaders addressed reporters jointly after meeting with President Barack Obama. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said White House and congressional staff would work together next week to begin sorting through details, and suggested they could all reconvene in two weeks.”

Bloomberg: How Obama is taking control of the fiscal cliff debate.

President Obama “is kicking off budget dealings with congressional leaders with new leverage from last week’s big win, but he confronts a decidedly tricky path to avoiding a market-rattling ‘fiscal cliff’ that could imperil a still-fragile economy,” USA Today reports.

“Obama’s GOP rivals promise greater flexibility on new tax revenues, but Democrats face pressure from liberal interest groups urging the president to take a hard line and avoid cutting big benefit programs like Medicare and food stamps. It’s up to Obama to navigate the course toward an agreement.”

New York Times: “After years of wrangling, members of the bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight are ratcheting back expectations for a deficit reduction breakthrough and now say the best they can probably do is offer ideas for the one fiscal negotiation that will truly matter: talks between President Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner that begin in earnest on Friday.”

Wonk Wire: Another U.S. credit downgrade looms.

“Some Republican governors are softening on the party’s hard-line toward tax increases for the wealthy, suggesting that GOP congressmen at least be open to rate hikes in exchange for a comprehensive fiscal agreement on taxes and entitlements,” Politico reports.

Said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R): “The people have spoken, I think we’re going to have to be [flexible] now. Elections do have consequences. The president campaigned on that.”

Wonk Wire has the chart of the day.

First Read: “They’re willing to give up additional REVENUES; they just don’t want to see tax RATES go up. The two sides actually aren’t that far apart. The question is whether they can agree on a revenue target for tax reform. That’s Step 1; Step 2 is how the temporary agreement is forged regarding the tax rates for 2013, sequestration, payroll tax, etc. The White House’s view: If you let the Bush tax rates expire for the Top 2%, it makes negotiating the issues surrounding sequestration (even the farm bill!) a lot easier. But the hurdle is big: getting the votes in the House. No Republican wants to vote for a tax RATE hike; it’s likely a primary suicide mission.”

“Ironically, the GOP may end up giving the president and Democrats MORE cover on taxes by agreeing to a revenue goal within tax reform, essentially, covering up tax hikes while the politicians can claim they’ve lowered tax RATES. Ah, the politics of the now vs. the politics of the long term. It’s the GOP’s challenge in managing its own base right now.”

Financial Times: Republicans shift stance on taxing the wealthy.

Wonk Wire: Romney adviser calls for raising (some) taxes.