So the Prez caves, we add more to the deficit and we get to talk about this again in 2 years time?

[truebrit71]

What kind of messed up logic makes this a winning strategy?

In order for the poor to get their stale bread crusts the rich are given more caviar.

All of the talk of 'fiscal conservativism' turns out to be complete bullshit.

And just in time for the 2012 Presidential election we get to have the same "Democrats want to raise your taxes" meme shoved down our throats by the gop and their enablers in the M$M. Kicking this shit-covered can down the road another couple of years is the thing that must have the Millionaires Club (Congress) the most giddy because it's a win-win for them. IF the economy is still in the shitter in 2012 it's because the Prez is an economic dunce, and if it improves it's because tax-gifts to the wealthy really ARE good afterall...

Why not go on national teevee and say it like it is..the gop want the rich to keep more money and they are willing to fuck everyone else over in order to make that happen...Use small words so that the teahadists understand it as well..or is it only rethuglicans that get to use the bully pulpit...??

For a guy that got his job with pretty speechifying and verbal persuasionism he sure seems tongue-tied when it comes to actually doing something hard..

[tularetom]

1. The republicans will beat him about the head and shoulders for making the deficit larger

Even though he made it larger just to placate them.

[glitch]

13. And use the growing deficit as an even bigger club to bash Social Security.

Win/Win for Conservatives!

[dkf]

2. The expensive part is the middle class tax cuts...$3.2 Trillion vs $700 billion

[FirstLight]

3. Is it a done deal? did they vote yet?

Just wondering , i am waking up on the west coast and the headlines here make it sound as if it is over...

and It's a big crock of you-know-what...:mad:

[whistler162]

8. nope just the usual OMG... There is a article in some paper

by some writer that says it is a done deal.

Thanks but I will wait until something actually happens before going off on a panic bender!

[Jakes Progress]

15. The republicans considered it a done deal a month ago.

We got outplayed again.

[theaocp]

4. The President would have to WANT to

name names and make them famous. It's anyone's guess as to why he won't. I don't care about civility anymore. CALL. THEM. OUT.

[egoclothes]

7. If only that could happen.

[pscot]

5. That last bit really illustrates the problem

The Whitehouse is not a smart bargainer. You can deal without giving away the store, but not these guys. All those MBÁs around him don't know shit about the real world. Their mistakes are killing us. Get a fucking trader in there.

[truebrit71]

6. Yup. This is merely a continuation of the terrible strategy employed in the health care debate.

...they arrived at the table having already given away the store..

[WiffenPoof]

9. Just Shaking My Head - n/t

[TeamJordan23]

10. The big problem that I see is that if the economy improves, the GOP will take credit

And hammer home the point that it improved because of the 250K + tax cuts. Again, the media will report this without any actual facts or support.

[obxhead]

11. We will be talking about these tax cuts again in 1 year.

It will be a major campaign issue. Another reason why they need to be killed now, not extended just long enough to bite us in the ass in the 2012 campaign.

[Clio the Leo]

12. I think we'll be able to make the argument better in two years...

... I was with you at first. Saw letting them in end two years (as opposed to three) as a failure.

But in two years, Obama will be on the ticket. As opposed to only worrying about their own elections, Dem moderates will be trying to ride his coat tails. He'll be out championing the issue even more than he already has been.

[treestar]

14. So the President should not cave

and the unemployed can go without? Because that is more important than not caving.

And the middle class taxes go up? Why? Because we should all hate the rich that much.

[Jakes Progress]

16. So the president ought to be better at this.

He ought not to telegraph his position before the negotiations even begin. He is making a bad deal. The republicans get what they want. They get what is effectively a permanent tax gift to the richest two percent who have benefitted the most from the bail out, the crisis, and high unemployment. They get to say they lowered taxes. They get to say they stopped Obama from raising taxes. They get to say that Obama raised the deficit. All of that is a bunch of hooey, but if hooey wasn't political capital, no republican would ever be elected.

The irritation is that this administration took an issue that was stone simple, an issue that the public backed in overwhelming numbers, and lost again. It's getting tiresome.

[Kablooie]

17. Either you take the hard but right way or you lose.

He's going to take the easy but wrong way.

Short term people will keep tax cuts and unemployment but long term the depression will get worse.

It's has to explode sometime and the longer you put it off, the bigger it will blow.

Take your medicine now instead of in 2012 when the presidency is up for grabs.

(In 2012 the GOP will be delighted to extend unemployment because it will gain them the presidency.)

[toddwv]

18. The Dems are probably screwed no matter what they do

If the Dems cave on the Bush Tax Cuts, then the right-wing biased media will hammer them for increasing deficits and a continued lackluster economy.

If the Dems don't cave, the right-wing biased media will make sure that they take the blame for not compromising so that unemployment benefits are extended.

So what happens when they do "compromise" with the Republicans? The Repubs get a 2 year or longer extension of the tax cuts for their rich buddies and the Dems get a few months worth of an extension for unemployment benefits. So then what do the Dems have to bargain the next time the Republicans pull up to the table?

This is a win-win for the Republicans unless the Dems as a whole grow a set of balls and stop playing political doormats.

[polichick]

19. What a deal!!! Woo-hoo! nt