A few facts about the budget:
1. Tax revenue as a percent of GDP is incredibly low. Lower than even the lowest of the Reagan years. Lower by far than the Clinton years.
2. Popular programs are popular.
3. Raising taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year is popular.
4. People who want to cut spending honestly don’t want to cut things they like.
5. Everybody can sit on their hands and taxes will go up automatically.
So really, can we pretend that a serious budget proposal is something that doesn’t involve tax increases? Taxes are going to go up. They have to in order to afford the kind of government Americans want. The sooner we all acknowledge this, the sooner we can figure out how to design our tax system to raise revenue in fair and distortion-reducing ways. That’s the debate to have. Those who refuse to raise taxes are literally shooting the hostage. These are not serious people, unless by “serious” you mean “willing to destroy billions of dollars of wealth to prove a point”.