This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
> Sen. Orrin Hatch says the tax deal may not be perfect, but Republicans should embrace the plan to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for two years. And he offered a small rebuke of freshman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Utah Republican who yesterday said he objected to the tax deal because it adds to the national debt with no other spending cuts to pay for it.
"I suppose he wants everybody to have their taxes go up?" Hatch told me just off the Senate floor. "I mean let's face it, the [Democrats] control the Senate and the White House, and anybody who thinks we can change it just because the House [will be run by Republicans] isn't looking at reality. There are others who feel the same way, but I have to look at it through practical eyes and frankly, I believe we ought to keep that tax relief viable and active."
Chaffetz said conservatives should vote against the tax cut deal, which includes tax cut renewals for middle-income and wealthy Americans, and let the GOP-run House pass its own measure come January.
Hatch says that argument ignores political reality since a Republican-only plan in the House would have little chance passing in the Democrat-controlled Senate. "There are things that I don't like in this deal but that's what life is around here," Hatch said. "You can't always have everything you want."
By the way, in case it wasn't clear, Chaffetz may challenge Hatch for his Senate seat in 2012, and the two are not best friends right now.
— Thomas BurrTwitter.com/thomaswburr