President Obama Stops Huge New Tax Giveaway To Rich

The congressional Republicans thought for a while they might not even have to wait for the new Congress to give the rich and the corporations a huge tax giveaway. It involved some temporary tax breaks that will soon expire.

The Republicans wanted to make those temporary tax breaks for the rich a permanent thing -- a move that would have added about $450 billion to the budget deficit over the next decade (which I'm sure they would have tried to cover by cutting programs that help ordinary Americans). And it looked like they might be able to do it, because they had talked some "blue dogs" (many of them defeated in the last election) into voting with them.

But their joy was short-lived. President Obama made it clear that if such a ridiculous tax break for the rich bill was actually passed, he would veto it without delay -- and there are enough real Democrats in the House and Senate to prevent an override of his veto.

I'm starting to like this tough new President Obama a lot. He issued an executive order on immigration when it became clear the Republicans would allow no reform. Now he has stopped a huge new tax giveaway to the rich. And next week, his EPA is set to issue new rules on greenhouse gases. He seems to have made up his mind that he is not going to be pushed around by the Republican Congress.

The Republicans thought after the last election that they now had the numbers to force the president to bend to their will. It looks like they may well have been wrong about that.

(The caricature of the tough new president above is by DonkeyHotey.)