Democratic leaders to press Obama to take tough line on tax cuts

[cal04]

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/132197-pelosi-reid-to-press-obama-to-take-tough-line-on-tax-cuts

House Democratic leaders will meet with President Obama on Monday and press him to take a tougher negotiating line with Republicans on extending the Bush-era tax cuts.

The meeting with Obama and Senate Democratic leaders follows a separate meeting between the leaders and Vice President Joe Biden on Monday.

The top-level talks come as House Democrats are increasing pressure on the White House to stand firm in securing middle-class priorities in exchange for acceding to a Republican demand that tax cuts for the wealthy be extended temporarily.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) met with Biden at the vice president’s residence on Saturday. The message they are delivering in the meetings on Saturday and this afternoon is that House Democrats “are not going to just rubber stamp” a deal that the White House cuts with congressional Republicans, a Democrat familiar with the negotiations told The Hill.


Democrats meet with Obama over tax cuts deal
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101206/ap_on_bi_ge/us_tax_cuts

[BzaDem]

1. If they don't rubber stamp the deal, the new Republican house will rubber stamp the cuts without the

deal. So I'm not sure what the point is -- just to delay it a week or so? To send a message, before the opposite message gets sent a week later?

[highprincipleswork]

3. Don't they expire?

Isn't it true that the tax cuts expire at the end of 2010? If that is so, it's all up to the Democrats and to us. Draw a line in the sand, and do not cross it.

Let them all expire, if that is necessary. Better than caving one more time to disastrous results.

[stopbush]

4. Once the tax cuts expire, that particular legislation is dead and done.

You can't extend legislation that is dead and done.

The rs would have to come up with new legislation crafted from the ground up. Sure, it would include much of what already exists, but it would still need to move through the legislative process all over again, and that can be a minefield for anything. If nothing else, you'd have hours of speeches on the floors of both houses discussing giving tax breaks to billionaires, and it could drag on for months.

Extending the tax cuts now - for all or only for some - is child's play by comparison.

Which is why I'm for letting ALL the bush tax cuts expire at this point.

[leftstreet]

2. This is such pathetic political theater. Bring back the TSA controversy

Sign Chavez up at DU

Someone get circumcised

Something!

:cry:

[laughingliberal]

5. +1 nt