The contortions Republicans are going through in an attempt to avoid raising tax rates are quite something, and they pose something of a puzzle: why are they making noises about raising revenue by limiting deductions, while still screaming bloody murder at any hint of a rise in tax rates?

One possible answer is that they’re still imagining that they can pull a fast one — that they can sell supposed revenue raisers that don’t actually raise much revenue, or that they can find a way to renege on whatever agreement might be reached by appealing to the various interests with a stake in particular deductions.

Another possible answer, which I guess I have to mention, is that they sincerely believe that letting the top rate go back up to Clinton-era levels would have a devastating effect on incentives. On second thought, never mind.

But there’s a third possibility, which Nate Silver and Josh Marshall both raise in slightly different ways: they may be trying to protect the players at the expense of the $400,000 a year working stiffs.

The terms, in case you’re wondering, come from the original Wall Street:

I’m not talking a $400,000 a year working Wall Street stiff flying first class and being comfortable, I’m talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player, or nothing.

Nate has a chart:

Photo

Under this particular proposal, everyone making more than 250K would pay more — but as a percentage of income, it would be significant for those making 400K, trivial for the Masters of the Universe making $10 million or more. And this is basically going to be true of any proposal that doesn’t actually raise rates.

The point, as Josh says, is that when push comes to shove, the GOP seems ready to throw the bottom 90 percent of the top 1 percent overboard, in order to protect its real patrons, the superelite.