Why Won't Republicans Get Serious About Deficit Reduction?

We all know that deficits were not a big deal for most of our country's history, but as soon as George Bush left and Barack Obama became President, deficits all of a sudden became THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE EVER. Which is why I have to ask why Republicans are so Unserious about taking steps to reduce it? Republicans are holding their breath, stomping their feet, and threatening to destroy our economy unless we reduce the deficit by a paltry $2 trillion dollars. But Senate Democrats have proposed reducing the deficit by $4 trillion dollars which, as expert economists agree, is twice as much as $2 trillion:

Under the blueprint, the top income tax rate would rise to 39.6 percent for individuals earning more than $500,000 a year and families earning more than $1 million. That group, which constitutes the nation’s richest 1 percent of households, would also pay a 20 percent rate on capital gains and dividends, rather than the 15 percent rate now in effect.

In addition to raising rates for the very wealthiest families, the blueprint proposes to obtain fresh revenue by targeting offshore tax havens and corporate shelters. It would also scale back the array of tax breaks and deductions known as tax expenditures, perhaps by focusing on the wealthiest households, which claim an average of $205,000 in tax breaks each year on average income of $1.1 million.

The blueprint would take nearly $900 billion from the Pentagon over the next decade — the same amount recommended by Obama’s fiscal commission. It would slice more than $350 billion from domestic programs. And it would produce interest savings of nearly $600 billion attributable to reduced borrowing.

At this point, there is no other conclusion to reach but that Republicans are not really Serious about the Most Important Issue of All Time.