Durbin Says Americans Are Demanding Higher Taxes

WASHINGTON -- As the days dwindle before the U.S. reaches the fiscal cliff, Republicans and Democrats are jostling for position on long-term fiscal reforms even as they urge an emergency fix to dodge automatic spending cuts and tax hikes before the first of the year.

"The president wants the [tax] rates to go up. That doesn't solve the problem," House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on NBC's Meet the Press. "We don't want to be back here in another year, in another ten years, answering the same questions."

While the public standoff continues between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, both sides are staking out their ground for a looming fight over entitlement reform even as some Republicans acknowledge that they may lose the short term debate over tax rates for the highest-income Americans.