Letter from Sherrod Brown regarding his vote:

[OhioChick]

We fought back against extending the Bush tax cuts for the super-wealthy because we knew it was wrong to exacerbate our deficit crisis on behalf of millionaires and billionaires when working Ohioans were struggling.

We fought back against President Obama’s agreement to include those tax breaks in his compromise plan because we know it was wrong to hold help for the middle class and small businesses hostage to such a wasteful giveaway.

We fought hard, and I’m proud of our stand. From joining my colleague Bernie Sanders’ filibuster to accumulating more than 20,000 signatures on our open letter to the President to offering my own middle-class tax cut plan, I know that we made our voices heard.

Unfortunately, in the end, we had to choose between a bad deal and no deal at all. And as much as I disagreed with the Republican tax cuts for the rich--and President Obama’s decision to include them in the compromise--I had to cast a tough vote in favor of the plan so that working families don’t see their taxes go up or their unemployment benefits cut off.

While I’m glad that we averted a middle-class tax hike and ensured that jobless Ohioans will be able to keep food on the table while the economy recovers, I’m upset that we couldn’t get a better deal.

But we don’t have time to be disappointed. Two years from now, Republicans will once again try to force another extension of their millionaire bailout. President Obama will once again have to decide whether to cave in to their demand in order to pass critical economic assistance for working people. And next time, we can’t just fight hard--we have to win the fight.

That’s why I hope you’ll stay tuned as I continue to fight for economic policies that reward work, not wealth--real help for struggling families and real economic security for the middle class.

As we’ve learned this fall, that’s a tough fight, and I’m going to need you on my side. And I can’t thank you enough for standing with me.


Sherrod Brown

[xchrom]

1. Oh well it's pretty much a done deal now.

The democratic party is now a full fledged neo-liberal.

And that sucks.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

4. "Next time" --

they'll fight and win "next time". :eyes:

Uh huh. Sorry Sherrod and a bunch of other good DEms were wrong on this.

[Mumble]

2. And my vote is being held hostage..

...until the rich pay enough taxes so we don't have to barrow from China to support their lavish life style. I live in Brown's district and he won't be getting my vote again. The Dems should have fought this time, not 2 years from now!

[Guilded Lilly]

3. I wrote him a thank-you n/t

[ladjf]

5. I'm sorry Senator. You were one of my heroes up until now.

It was the "talk with your minister" thing that clued me that you were just another political hack.
That was lame.

[defendandprotect]

8. Is that in this post .... ??

I've scanned it twice -- am I missing it?

Or is it something he said elsewhere --

cause I'm also turned off by garbage like that --


thanks !

[ladjf]

13. No. But yesterday he made a comment in an interview that he

had consulted with his minister. I read it on DU.

[defendandprotect]

14. Well, there goes another promising candidate ...

Thanks!

:)

[Enrique]

6. "and next time, we can’t just fight hard--we have to win the fight."

bullshit. Sen. Brown knows just as much as Obama and all of us that there's no way in hell those tax cuts will expire in 2012.

I HATE when politicans talk to us like we're idiots. :mad:

[quinnox]

7. It sounds genuine to me, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt

I think this guy is going to do good things in the senate, and I respect his explanation.

[defendandprotect]

9. Obviously, we never see more than a handful of Dems down to the wire ...

and it's not believable any more --

Looks like only Bernie Sanders stands between us and full fledged fascism now --

[yourout]

10. Sometimes the best deal is no deal at all. And this is one.

We are jumping off a cliff and the landing is really going to suck.

[hfojvt]

11. we fought back, Senator, but in the end - you also surrendered

making the original fight look like a hollow gesture.

Too bad we couldn't have used some of that powder that we have been keeping dry.

[Bandit]

12. Obama could very well be a lame duck by the time this comes up again

So there will be no incentive for him to fight at all. I can't believe how easily Democrats tossed aside such a Core Democratic Principle as Progressive Taxation..They litterly gave up whatever makes them Democrats...Now what are they..