General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Cenk is over at Daily Kos calling for a vote against Obama (updated) [View all]dawg
(10,777 posts)To be clear, I'm praising Obama for the way he and Congressional Dems handled this recent confrontation with the Republicans over the payroll tax cuts. To me, it proves that the Republicans will respond to pressure.
I'm also criticizing the way the tax-cut extensions were handled. I would have hated it had those benefits been allowed to expire, but that may have been prefrerable to what actually happened. It would, of course, have caused severe pain for lots of people. But the budget cuts that are being debated for deficit reduction purposes will also cause lots of pain.
And in the end, they got two years of tax cut extensions for one year of benefits. And we didn't even get a debt-limit increase as part of that deal. So, no, this was not handled well by the administration.
I actually think the President has been moving in my direction for the last six months or so. I don't know if loudmouths like Cenk or Paul Krugman or Robert Reich had anything to do with that or not. But just in case they did, I hope they continue speaking out.