"Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer seemed as skeptical as anyone about whether President Barack Obama's plan to propose tax increases of $320 billion is actually something the White House believes will happen under a Republican-led Congress when he asked Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer about it on Sunday's program.
"Do you in any way, shape or form believe that a new Republican Congress is going to do what a Congress that had Democrats and Republicans in control would not do?" Schieffer said. "I mean, is this for real? Do you really think there is a chance that something like this could pass?"
Schieffer, like many other observers, asked Pfeiffer whether Obama doesn't really just plan to lay out a contrast between Democrats and Republicans when he brings up the plan in Tuesday's
State of the Union address.
Pfeiffer didn't give a flat-out "yes," but sounded essentially like that was the case.
"I think in divided government each side should lay out their agenda, what they think is in the best interest of the country and then figure out if there are things in the middle we agree on," Pfeiffer said.