Grover Norquist (Photo: Getty)

As they face down the fiscal cliff, a growing number of Republicans are abandoning the pledge not to increase taxes that they made to anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist. Today, Hudson Valley Rep. Chris Gibson came up with what might be the most creative excuse yet for breaking the pledge. Mr. Gibson saw his district number change from 20 to 19 during this year's redistricting process and he reasoned that the pledge no longer applies to him as it was only to the constituents under the previous district number.

"The Congressman signed the pledge as a candidate in 2010 for the 20th Congressional District," his spokeswoman explained. "Regarding the pledge moving forward, Congressman Gibson doesn’t plan to re-sign it for the 19th Congressional District, which he now represents (the pledge is to your constituents of a numbered district)."

Indeed, the pledge itself is addressed "to the taxpayers of the _____ district," with the candidates filling in the blank. However, the next line of the pledge says "and to the American people," which calls Mr. Gibson's logic into question.

Nevertheless, Mr. Gibson apparently feels the change in his district number is a sufficient excuse for him to "consider all comprehensive packages brought forward as a result of bipartisan negotiations" in the latest high-profile budget negotiations currently controlling the conversation in Washington. He joins a slew of Republicans who have dropped the pledge, including Long Island Rep. Peter King who entered a heated war of words with Mr. Norquist over the issue. Prior to the recent raft of pledge-breakers, all but six of the current Republican members of the House of Representatives had signed the pledge.

Correction: One of the references to Mr. Gibson's district number switches was initially reversed.

(Photo: Getty)

Earlier today, President Barack Obama gathered with the majority and minority leaders of both houses of Congress to move forward in avoiding automatic spending cuts and tax hikes set to occur at the end of the year. Although Democrats and Republicans have, at times, seemed to have irreconcilable differences in the process, the various elected officials walked out of the Roosevelt Room with an optimistic outlook that a compromise would be reached.

"I can only echo the observations of the other leaders that it was a constructive meeting. We all understand where we are....We are prepared to put revenue on the table provided we fix the real problem," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, according to a White House pool report. “Most of my members, I think without exception, believe that we're in the dilemma we're in not because we taxed too little but because we spent too much."

Mr. McConnell's comments are notable because Republicans are currently in a stalemate with Mr. Obama on whether to fully extend the Bush-era tax cuts or to let them expire for the top 2% of earners. If neither plan were to come into effect, rates would increase on the entire base of taxpayers.

Congress' other GOP leader, Speaker John Boehner, concurred with Mr. McConnell. “While we're going to continue to have revenue on the table it's going to be incumbent on my colleagues to show the American people that we're serious about cutting spending and solving our fiscal dilemma," he said. "I believe we can do this and avert the fiscal cliff that is right in front of us today."

The revenue issue is part of a larger effort to stop "sequestration," massive automatic spending cuts to education, defense and more if a specific deficit-cutting plan is not arrived at, an event many feel would be economically catastrophic. But, echoing their partisan counterparts, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sounded positive about the negotiation's direction.

"This is the first time we've deal with these issues and feel we understand what the problem is," Mr. Reid said. "I felt very good about what we were able to talk about in there. We have the cornerstones of being able to work something out."

Mr. Reid said his chamber would be working on the issue through the Thanksgiving recess next week.

Mayor Bloomberg at his press conference.

In order to keep the city's fiscal house in order in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled new cuts and streams of revenue over the weekend. Among the changes, school-lunch fees will increase from $1.50 to $2.50, while city libraries will see their funding axed to the tune of $8.3 million. Asked about it during a press conference today in the hard-hit Howard Beach neighborhood in Queens, Mr. Bloomberg defended the budgetary measures.

"It's easy to say, 'I don't like A, B and C,'"  he argued. "Well, what things would they like us to raise taxes [on]? The issue here is that we're trying to find some balance so that everybody shares a little bit in the pain, everybody contributes; we're all in this together. And do it such that people can afford [it]. It's not asking a lot to go, in this day in age, from one price to another if it's a relatively small price. But if a large number of people do it, it contributes significant revenues."

Mr. Bloomberg emphasized that, for reasons outside of his control, his hand was forced. The mayor specifically called out the Public Advocate Bill de Blasio-backed lawsuit against the State Legislature's livery cab bill, which ended up blocking the planned sale of additional taxi medallions.

"We have a budget that is going to be strained by the recovery," he explained. "We have a budget that is questionable because of some people suing us for their own selfish reasons to stop the taxi medallions. We have great uncertainties out there and we will balance our budget like we've done every single year."