Do Republicans Listen to Brooks?

As you probably know, I am a fan of David Brooks. I think he is good at reigning in the extreme elements of both parties and pointing out their excesses. I especially like him because as a conservative (I use the term loosely here), he gives me the sense that I could find some common ground with Republicans.

My question though is whether the party actually listens to him. I sense that Democrats like him, but as the Republican party gets more and more extreme, I wonder if his recommendations are just laughed at by the party.

Here are some parts from a recent column on the debt ceiling:

First, Republicans have to make a grand offer on raising the debt ceiling. This offer should include a bipartisan commitment to reduce the growth of Medicare spending. Republicans need Democratic fingerprints on a plan to restrain entitlements. In exchange, Republicans should offer to raise tax revenues on the rich. They should get rid of the interest deductions on mortgages over $500,000 and on second homes. They should close corporate loopholes and cap the health insurance deduction. They should offer a plan that follows the outline of the Simpson-Bowles report and what the now “Gang of Five” in the Senate is working on. (Senator Mark Kirk has a proposal roughly on this latter point.)

[Edit]

They need to lay out the facts showing that Medicare is unstable and on a path to collapse, as Representative Paul Ryan is doing. But they also need to enmesh Medicare reform within an agenda to build solid communities: more money for community colleges and technical schools, an infrastructure bank, a values agenda to shore up marriage and family cohesion, tax holidays to help the unemployed start businesses, tax reform to limit special interest power.

I can't see the Republican party doing anything to increase taxes. In fact, I see them allowing the status quo of budget deficits before they agree to fix the deficits with any tax increases. Also, the idea that Republicans would support community colleges or infrastructure banks, even though they are pro-growth policies, is also unbelievable.

The fact is, the Republicans have backed themselves into a corner by saying all government spending is bad and all taxes are too high. The only solutions this leaves them are serious and unpopular cuts. The sort of moderate, smart, and reasonable policies that Brooks proposes do not fit in with Republican rhetoric, which means I doubt that the party listens to him at all - unfortunately.


Side Note: I strongly disagree though with Brooks' love for Paul Ryan. Instead, I side with Paul Krugman who has shown quite convincingly that Ryan's plan, while acknowledging Medicare's unsustainable future, chooses to put costs onto seniors to solve the problem.