Thirty Eight House Democrats have come out publicly in favor of extending tax cuts for the rich in income brackets over $250,000 for couples and $200,000 for individuals. It is impossible to speculate as to whether they believe this is the correct policy or merely the more electorally expedient one.
If we are to believe that the Democratic Party stands for some basic economic fairness and the efficient deployment of Government resources to improve the quality of life of all citizens then it is difficult to justify the membership of these Blue Dogs and Right Wing Congressmen in the House Democratic Caucus. The tax cut policies of the Bush administration allocated all the gains of growth to the top end of the economic spectrum and led to huge budget deficits which crippled the ability of the Government to perform effectively.
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publicly in favor of extending tax cuts for the rich
The argument that the presence of these members padded our majority in the present Congress and would be necessary for us to maintain control of the Congress in the future is not entirely convincing. Firstly, most of the Blue Dogs repeatedly voted against most pieces of legislation crucial to implementing any sort of Democratic agenda and secondly, any temporary electoral need they satisfy is at the cost of the long term coherence of the Democratic Party platform
The argument that the presence of these members padded our majority in the present Congress and would be necessary for us to maintain control of the Congress in the future is not entirely convincing. Firstly, most of the Blue Dogs repeatedly voted against most pieces of legislation crucial to implementing any sort of Democratic agenda and secondly, any temporary electoral need they satisfy is at the cost of the long term coherence of the Democratic Party platform.
Compare this with the unanimity of the Republican House caucus in supporting the extension of the Bush Tax cut policies two months from the polls in spite of the electoral unpopularity of these positions.
Assume the electorate is divided into two camps, one supporting the notion of an efficient, effective Government ensuring basic economic opportunity and fairness for all and the other minimum Governmental involvement. As long as the representatives of the second camp advocate their position in a clear, coherent voice while those representing the first have a garbled, inconsistent message, it is not difficult to see which camp would be more enthused and motivated and in which direction the debate and policy would eventually move irrespective of any temporary electoral ups and downs.