Reply #59: That's what he proposed this time.

[Telly Savalas]

When it was clear that this proposal wouldn't be adopted, he compromised. There's certainly room to debate whether the pseudo-stimulus of the middle-class cuts plus the unemployment insurance extension was worth tax cuts for the wealthy, but they were certainly desirable goals.

In two years he'll be dealing with a GOP controlled House. So Obama will likely be left with the choice of accepting an even more watered down deal or playing some stupid game of chicken with the GOP. One would have to be dreaming to imagine that the latter option would arrive at a productive outcome, so I'd be prepared to be disappointed.

The only way we're going to see real productive change is to nominate and elect quality candidates to the House and Senate in Nov. 2012. Such candidates generally aren't going to be bankrolled by big money interests, so it's going to take grassroots efforts to succeed. These grassroots efforts take time to work, so this shit needs to be happening now if it's going to happen at all. DU would presumably be the ideal venue to communicate about these grassroots campaigns, yet there's basically no discussion of them here.