The GOP is playing chicken with the Democrats again. And it seems that the Obama administration is getting ready to blink. Again. A temporary extension of the Bush tax cuts is not a compromise. It's exactly what the Republicans want.
This is absolutely insane. The Republicans came right out and said "We're blocking votes on everything until we get tax cuts for the rich." You can read the letter from Senate Majority Mitch McConnell for yourself if you don't believe me. This comes from the same man who has openly said that the top priority for the GOP over the next two years is to make Barack Obama a one-term president. Not job creation. Not national security. Making Barack Obama look bad.
And he's about to let them do it. Again.
greywolfe359's diary :: ::
This time Obama and probably some Senate Democrats are going to back down because they're chickens who are afraid of being blamed if middle class tax rates go up on the first of the year. They're afraid they won't get to bring any other issues to the floor of the Senate if the Republicans don't get their way. As to the first point, why is it that Republicans are never afraid of being blamed for failing to get the middle class tax cuts renewed? Is it because they know we're chickens who will never let it happen?
As to the second, what the hell do you think they're going to do after they get their juicy tax cuts for the rich? Do you think just because they've said they'll filibuster everything BEFORE then that they'll suddenly stop filibustering everything AFTER they get them? Which Republicans have you been watching for the past two years? Those issues are already dead in the Senate. At least let the Republicans get the credit for killing them!
Republicans are counting on us to be the responsible ones. The rational ones. The ones who have at least some care for being able to actually govern a nation. They have learned they can be as stubborn, intransigent and irrational as they want to be because Democrats just won't have the heart to let the American people suffer the consequences of Republican obstructionism. They're counting on our conscience being our weakness. They know we don't want tax rates to go up on the middle class. They know we think a tax hike on the middle class during a tough economy (it's not a "recession" anymore, by the way, the economy is growing again, but only the rich are seeing the benefits) is a terrible thing. And they're playing a game of chicken betting that we will give them anything just so that doesn't happen.
Well, excuse my language, but FUCK THAT. Sometimes you need to show you're willing to be irrational if you ever want the other side to act rationally again. You can't just fold every time the player across from you ups the ante. If you do, they know all they have to do is raise every single hand until they have the whole pot. That's been their strategy for two years and they're going to keep on doing it until Democrats grow some fucking balls and slap our chips down on the table and say "CALL!"
What does that mean right now? Five steps:
Vote on an extension of ONLY the middle class tax cuts in the House. Pass that extension.
Let that bill go to the Senate. Republicans will threaten to filibuster.
Make them fucking filibuster! Don't bring anything else to the Senate floor. We can do this even after the new Congress takes over because we still have a majority in the Senate. Let the Republicans refuse, month after month if they want to, to vote on middle class tax cuts.
Make them pay! Hit them over the head with this every single day for the next two years if need be. Repeat, again and again with Republican-like discipline for sticking to talking points: "The Republicans raised taxes on the middle class. The Republicans continue to block middle class tax cuts. The Republicans hate the middle class. The Republicans are holding middle class America hostage to the interests of their fat cat banker and investor constituents."
Crush them in the 2012 elections. Do you think the American people would really rally behind a party that blocked middle class tax cuts for two years while getting NOTHING ELSE done? You know what, if the American people DID reward Republicans for that, then they get what they deserve.
We absolutely cannot fall into this same old Republican trap again. They're going to keep running the same play until we stop it. This is the time to quit being chickens and do just that. We need to show that we can be the party of "no" or even "HELL NO!" too. Shove their own damn strategy right back in their faces and then shove it down their throats! What the hell have we got to lose?
Seriously, what are the drawbacks for the Democratic Party here? Afraid if we play tough then we won't get to pass the Dream Act and DADT later on? Bullshit. Those aren't going to pass anyway if we show the Republicans are tails and run again. They will say "thank you very much for passing the Bush tax program, now we can move on to blocking all that other stuff you wanted." They will filibuster votes on all that other stuff either way. We gain NOTHING by caving into their demands here. We get to look weak, we get to aid and abet the class war being waged against the middle class and the poor, and we get to balloon the deficit. For what?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/12/1/924600/-GOP-Playing-Chicken:-This-Time-Run-Them-The-F*k-Over
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