A couple of days ago, White House senior advisor David Axelrod said Democrats must accept the reality that the only way to get tax cuts extended for the middle class would be to also extend them for the rich. His statement made it sound like the White House has given up on trying to hold the line on denying those tax cuts to those who don't need it. He made it sound like the White House (and Democrats) are ready once again to give in to the ridiculous demands of Republicans.
It looks like President Obama has realized that Axelrod's statement makes him look like a spineless wimp (sort of like Senate Democrats), because he is now denying that the White House has given up on denying tax cuts to the richest Americans.
The president said, "That is the wrong interpretation because I haven't had a conversation with Democratic and Republican leaders. Here's the right interpretation -- I want to make sure that taxes don't go up for middle class families starting on January 1st. That is my number one priority for those families and for our economy. I also believe it would be fiscally irresponsible for us to permanently extend the high income tax cuts. I think that would be a mistake, particularly when we've got our Republican friends saying that their number one priority is making sure that we are dealing with our debt and our deficit."
Does that sound like a hardcore denial to you? It certainly doesn't sound like one to me. What I'm hearing is, we haven't folded yet but we probably will (only we'll try to dress it up as a compromise). I'm getting sick of the White House and Senate Democrats version of compromise. All it usually means these days is that the Democrats are giving in to Republican demands (while the Republicans never budge from their original position).
The president has already said he might be willing to compromise by extending the tax cuts for the richest Americans by "a year or two". That seems like the first sign of more spineless Democratic waffling. When are the Democrats going to learn to play the same kind of hardball politics being played by the Republicans?
The Democrats (and the president) should not give in on this issue. If the Republicans want to kill a tax cut for 98% of Americans because their rich buddies aren't included, let them. And then don't let the American people forget that it was the Republicans who raised their taxes!
That's what the Democrats should do. But they'd have to grow a spine to do it, and I don't expect that to happen. They'll fold, and so will President Obama.
David Axelrod’s statements are the result of the recent elections. President Obama is aware of the fact that the cooperation with the Republicans is going to be inevitable in the future and so he tries to find solutions that would be acceptable for them as well. But I agree that the issue of tax cuts will be a difficult test for the administration.
ReplyDeleteI am so sick of Barack Bush.
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