Like a lot of people on this site, I want the Dems to sunset the Bush tax cuts. It has been a cornerstone commitment of our party since they were enacted in 2001 and the economic analysis of the matter over the years has backed up our party's position. It was a key campaign promise that clearly distinguished the Democrats as the party of fiscal responsibility and underscored how irresponsible and ineffective the GOP had been. Throughout this debate, President Obama’s apparent willingness to reach a compromise has frustrated a lot of Kossacks, and has led to a number of hyperbolic diaries accusing him of weakness. In truth, even people in the Democratic caucus have been confused because the President has kept most people in the dark as to his position.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
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Now we know from Sam Stein that Obama communicated his position to the Dem caucus last night. Obama has said that he will allow all Bush tax cuts to expire if he does not get what he wants. What he wants is an extension of unemployment, continuation of working class tax cuts, passage of the Start Treaty (....and possibly, (pure speculation on my part), allowing DADT repeal to make it to the Senate floor for an up or down vote)).
What people on this site need to understand a little better is what Obama is seeing as he looks at the economy. In Obama’s view, and this is not without some backing from economists, ending the unemployment benefits now would hamper the economic recovery that is underway, and perhaps cut the growth rate by nearly a full percentage point. That would be tragic for millions of Americans, would impair global economic growth, and would likely imperil Obama’s re-election in 2012 as well as the Democrats’ control of the Senate.
Obama also knows that there are no reconciliation options in the Senate for the remainder of the year to eliminate the Bush tax cuts and pass an extension of unemployment benefits because the Dems used that option up when they passed health care. Obama also knows that he will have no chance to pass unemployment benefits in the next Congress with the GOP controlling the House and having 47 members in the Senate. Therefore, the GOP, which is quite literally committed to destroying the economy long enough for them to re-take the White House, has the ability and the political will to end unemployment benefits. In short, the cost of not providing extended unemployment benefits outweighs the cost of continuing the Bush tax cuts for the upper income brackets for another 2 years.
With that as a backdrop, Obama’s tactics and strategy come into much clearer focus and seem........rational. He will not agree to continue the odious and fiscally irresponsible tax cuts, unless he gets what he believes is absolutely essential to continuing the economic recovery. Without that recovery, we can’t do anything in DC and cannot keep the GOP out of power. So, rather than beating him up, I would suggest that we focus our energies on framing the GOP for the next election, with an aim to driving a wedge among their members with respect to their seemingly unified commitment to doing everything possible, including hurting their own constituencies and the American economy, in order to bring down Obama and the Democrats.