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From this Wednesday's Starting Point, Republicans aren't doing a very good job defending themselves for wanting to keep most Americans and our economy hostage to retain those tax cuts for the richest among us: GOP Rep. Has No Answer For Why Republicans Won’t Vote For Middle-Class Tax Cuts:

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), the incoming chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, could not explain during an interview on Wednesday why House Republicans are holding middle- and low-income tax cuts hostage to the cuts for the wealthiest Americans in the fiscal cliff showdown. When pressed by CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, Hensarling first cited complaints about spending, but when O’Brien asked why he couldn’t set spending levels aside and compromise on taxes first, he had nothing but unrelated talking points: [...]

Hensarling’s invocation of Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) proposal is not only not an answer to O’Brien’s question — as it doesn’t explain what’s wrong with the simple solution O’Brien poses — but it’s also not anything close to balanced. While Boehner’s plan contains an array of draconian spending cuts, it doesn’t propose any actual increased revenue, relying instead on the same voodoo as the Romney tax plan.

As Zack noted, his analysis on the electoral math is also wrong and irrelevant.

Full transcript below the fold.

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One Republican member of the Congressional "super committee" who has signed Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge says that tax increases "are a reality" as a part of any deal to reduce the nation's budget deficit.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) told CNN's Candy Crowley Sunday that he still has hope that members of the bipartisan, bicameral deficit reduction committee will reach an agreement for $1.2 trillion in savings before the Nov. 23 deadline.

"Listen, it's been a roller coaster ride," he remarked. "I will say this -- I respect my Democrat colleagues. I have an excellent working relationship with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). We haven't given up hope."

"What about the revenue side?" Crowley asked. "In terms of actual tax increases, which Democrats have said, 'Look, you have got to put some skin, here, in the game.' How much are you -- how far are you all willing to go in terms of tax increases?"

"Taxes are already going up by any measurement -- nominal terms, real terms -- as a part of the president's health care plan," Hensarling replied. "We believe, frankly, that increasing tax revenues hurt the economy, but within the context of the bipartisan negotiation with Democrats, clearly they are a reality."

He continued: "We put a half a trillion dollars of revenues on the table. Some of that fees. But 250 [billion] of it is what most people call static tax revenue. But that is in the context, Candy, of bringing down marginal rates -- fundamental tax reform to make the tax code fairer, simpler, more competitive to create jobs."

"But it's something Democrats have rejected, as you know, it's not enough, that it's just a token amount," Crowley noted.

"Well, first, Candy, I hope I'm never in Washington to where I consider $250 billion the American people's money to be a token." Hensarling explained. "Republicans, we want more revenues, we just want to raise it by growing the economy."

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Just before Republicans took to the House floor and voted 235-193 to destroy Medicare as we know it, Rep. Jeb Hensarling from Texas came on the air with Andrea Mitchell and defended their decision to throw senior citizens under the bus. Hensarling continually used the excuse that the program is "going broke" as an excuse to privatize it and shift the cost onto individuals rather than ask the wealthiest among us to pay more in taxes so we can shore up the fund.

Think Progress has more on the vote taken today in the House -- BREAKING: House Republicans Overwhelmingly Vote To Phase Out Medicare:

This afternoon, House Republicans overwhelming endorsed his plan to eliminate Medicare, slash education, and jack up the middle class’ taxes. 235 Republicans supported the Medicare elimination bill, with just 4 GOPers casting a vote to leave Medicare unmolested.

The centerpiece of the House Republicans’ plan is a proposal that repeals traditional Medicare and replaces it with a health insurance voucher that loses its value over time. Because the value of the Republicans’ privatized Medicare replacement does not keep up with the cost of health care, their plan will gradually eliminate Medicare because its increasingly worthless vouchers will eventually only cover a very tiny fraction of the cost of a health insurance plan.

Seniors will feel the effect of the GOP’s draconian plan long before it succeeds in phasing out Medicare. According to the CBO, total health care expenditures for a typical 65-year-old “would be almost 40 percent higher with private coverage under the GOP plan than they would be with a continuation of traditional Medicare” in the very first year that the GOP plan goes into effect:

They've got a chart illustrating how the costs would double in their post. And as they noted, Ryan's plan of course included a massive tax cut for the rich.

If this latest move by Republicans doesn't get more people out there rallying for and demanding a single payer system for everyone so we get the profit motive out of our health care costs in America, I'm not sure what does. The GOP just gave anyone that wants to run against their House members some very good material for political ads. I would love nothing better than to see every one of them that voted for this today ousted in the next election. I still have a hard time believing they were all suicidal enough to vote for Ryan's plan.

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Of course these guys are never asked to give a lick of evidence when they repeat things like this, but Jeb Hensarling is still rolling out the tired Republican talking point that American companies are not creating jobs because of fears about their taxes going up due to the country's deficit. I thought they created jobs because there was a demand for their products. And these big multi-national corporations are not going to create jobs in America when we reward them for shipping jobs overseas.

Of course all Chris Wallace did here is badger both Hensarling and Dick Durbin about why they weren't willing to make even more cuts to the budget. The demands of the TeaBirchers must be met, never mind that most of the public doesn't support them going after our social safety nets.

Hensarling was also still touting Paul Ryan's horrible Road Map for America which Jon wrote about here -- GOP Budget Proposes to Ration Medicare, Privatize Social Security.

And we need a better response to this than what we're getting from the White House and the Democrats which is saying they'll meet the Republicans halfway. Halfway still means making a wreck of the economy and destroying jobs.

WALLACE: Congressman Hensarling, let me try again with you. Let's look at some of the GOP's proposed cuts that Senator Durbin keeps talking about: $2 billion from jobs training in the middle of a weak recovery; $1.6 billion from the National Institutes of Health; $600 million from border security and immigration enforcement. Really? Cuts in job training and border security?

HENSARLING: Well, a couple of things, Chris. No. 1, at some point you've got to quit spending money that you don't have. We've just come off our first trillion-dollar deficit. Our second trillion- dollar deficit now under President Obama and the Democrats, the single largest deficit in America's history.

Now Dick says everything has to be on the table, but under their plan, nothing is on the table.

Now here's what we have done as House Republicans. We know that the best housing program, the best education program, the best nutrition program is a job. And there's still millions of our fellow Americans who are out of work due to the economic policies of his party and President Obama.

You talk to any of the job creators, and they'll tell you one of the things that concerns them the most is the debt. And so high levels of indebtedness are going to lead to high levels of taxation, which lead to high level of unemployment.

If you really want to get people to have paychecks instead of government checks, we've got to put the nation on a fiscally sustainable course. And when Dick talks about, or accuses us of draconian cuts, yes, this is 2.5 percent, roughly, of the entire federal budget. They're willing to do nothing. Again if you want to help people (ph) today and save children from bankruptcy tomorrow...

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Oh goodie. This is the type of bipartisanship we're going to get to look forward to after the new year. ConservaDems and Republicans both agreeing that more pain needs to be inflicted on the working class. On Fox News Sunday, both Sen. Kent Conrad and Rep. Jeb Hensarling agree that President Obama's Catfood Commission's co-chairs didn't go far enough with their recommendations.

Of course they disagreed on what the recommendations even were or what specifically each of them would do differently. Neither of these two explained how those recommendations or their suggestions here are supposed to get Americans back to work. We've been cutting the tax rates for businesses for decades now and it's created jobs alright, in India and China. Someone want to explain to me how simplifying the tax code is going to stop outsourcing? I'd like to have that "adult conversation" Mr. Hensarling.

WALLACE: Senator Conrad, let me start with you. You voted for the deficit commission plan which would cut $4 trillion by the year 2020 from the deficit. It didn't pass. But you are the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. How much of this do you intend to put in your plan this next year? And what do you think the president is going to do?

CONRAD: What I think is really necessary now is that there be a summit that involves the president. You know, when Judd Gregg and I first proposed this notion of a commission three years ago, we designed it so the president's people were at the table. The secretary of the treasury was the chairman of the commission. The head of OMB was one of the 18.

When we didn't get sufficient votes in the Senate to advance that proposal, the president, by executive order, created this commission but did not include his representatives.

I think if we're going to reach conclusion, we've got to have the leaders of the House and the Senate, Republican and Democrat, and the president or his representatives at the table. And I think that's the next logical step.

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Jeb Hensarling did his best to try to dance away from Chris Matthews' blunt accessment of his double speak during this segment but I don't think he did a very good job of it.

The good folks over at TPM have more on this -- Rep. Hensarling Advocates Cutting Benefits And Privatizing Social Security:

In the name of deficit reduction, House Republicans are going back to the Social Security well, offering budget proposals similar to those President George W. Bush proposed after his 2004 re-election that would privatize Social Security accounts and reduce cost of living adjustments.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) appeared on Hardball tonight and advocated balancing the budget by privatizing Social Security and cutting benefits for those now under 55.

"You can get better health care and better retirement security if you go to a defined contribution plan. We had this debate in Social Security a few years ago," Hensarling said. Read on...

We all know how well this worked when Bush started pushing for it. My fear is we're going to have ConservaDems wanting to go along with this nonsense.

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From C-SPAN's Washington Journal Jan. 28, 2010. Rep. Jeb Hensarling does his best bit of fear mongering over heaven forbid bringing back a higher tax rate for the rich in America. First he decides to play born again deficit hawk:

Hensarling: If you look at his budget it is trillion dollar deficit as far as the eye can see. You cannot use enough Draconian or apocalyptic language to describe what’s in America’s future if we don’t come to grips with this.

Yeah, like you or anyone in your party was concerned with deficits under Bush. Now they’re suddenly concerned with our spending… with the exception of course for paying for more ill informed invasions… or as he calls them, wars.

The host reads a question from Twitter for the Congressman: “We’re 12 trillion in debt, when do we start raising taxes to pay for it?” Hensarling decides to pretend that if taxes were raised, it would be on everyone equally and not just upper income earners who can afford it.

I don’t expect any honesty out of these people. Sadly C-SPAN with its hands off approach to allowing these guys on there with no questioning by the hosts when they spout bullshit is no better than the mainstream media for bringing some honesty to political debates in the United States.

Hensarling fear mongering that all Americans would have their taxes raised by 60% to fix the deficit below the fold. Apparently Hensarling is completely oblivious to any concept of progressive taxation.

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Rep. Jeb Hensarling fear mongering over European health care systems and claiming that his father who had a heart condition would have been possibly died had he been in one of their systems.