I'm not diving into the whole "ZOMG HE'S CAVING!!!" thing.
Rather, I'll say this - if you care a fucking whit about extending the Bush tax cuts for families that make less than $250K and individuals that make less than $200K (in other words, about letting them expire for the wealthiest Americans, which both the President and a majority of sitting elected Democrats has said they desire), you may as well pull out your belly button link and analyze it - that would be more productive than signing petitions aimed at the White House.
Ultimately, you should be focusing your ire on those Democratic Senators in the current Congress who are signaling - oh, AND BTW - who HAVE been signaling for months that they either oppose letting those cuts expire for the wealthiest Americans OR that they would accept extending them for the wealthiest Americans.
You all know better than anyone out there that this has to go through Congress. And the issue is the SENATE right now. Forget the frakkin' White House. You're spending your energy in the wrong place.
Here's your target list:
Ben Nelson
Washington, D.C.
720 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: 1-202-224-6551
Fax: 1-202-228-0012
Via ABC's The Note:
"“I support extending all of the expiring tax cuts until Nebraska’s and the nation’s economy is in better shape, and perhaps longer, because raising taxes in a weak economy could impair recovery."
Blanche Lincoln
Washington D.C. Office
355 Dirksen Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510-0404
Phone: (202)224-4843
Fax: (202)228-1371
Via The Boston Herald:
Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln said Monday she may propose extending the Bush-era tax cuts to wealthier Americans, as well as the middle-class tax cuts that President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders in Washington want to maintain.
Kent Conrad
530 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510-3403
Phone: (202) 224-2043
Fax: (202) 224-7776
Via ABC News:
“I think the President’s remarks are constructive, as you know I proposed some weeks ago that we extend all the tax cuts for a period of time until we are able to fundamentally reform the tax system,” he said. “Because that is what is required in part here along with spending reductions. Both are going to have to be done if we are going to get out of this deep hole.”
Evan Bayh
131 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5623
(202) 228-1377 fax
Via NASDAQ
Moderate Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh (D., Ind.) endorsed a compromise solution of extending all the Bush-era tax cuts for two years and then allowing them to expire, becoming the second Senate lawmaker to back the plan this week.
Joe Lieberman
Washington DC Office
706 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202.224.4041 (Voice)
202.224.9750 (Fax)
Via Politico:
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) broke with the Obama administration message on the Bush tax cuts Monday, calling for an extension of all breaks — including those for the top 3 percent of American money earners.
Also worth checking out - Kos' post about the favorable/unfavorable ratings of Senators running for re-election in 2012. I've edited the list to include only the Democrats:
Senator Approval Spread
Amy Klobuchar (D) 53/32 +21
Jeff Bingaman (D) 50/34 +16
Daniel Akaka (D) 49/35 +14
Dianne Feinstein (D) 50/37 +13
Tom Carper (D) 45/36 +9
Kirsten Gillibrand (D) 42/37 +5
Maria Cantwell (D) 44/41 +3
Bill Nelson (D) 37/35 +2
Herb Kohl (D) 41/40 +1
Bob Casey (D) 36/40 -4
Sherrod Brown (D) 31/40 -9
Debbie Stabenow (D) 38/50 -12
Claire McCaskill (D) 40/53 -13
Joe Lieberman (I) 33/54 -21
Amy Kobuchar
Washington, DC
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
phone: 202-224-3244
fax: 202-228-2186
Klobuchar has indicated "that Democrats may compromise by extending the tax cuts for a year or two, or limiting the expiration to households earning more than $1 million."
Jeff Bingaman
703 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5521
TDD: (202) 224-1792
Tollfree (in NM): 1-800-443-8658
Bingaman spokesperson Jude McCartin said congressional leaders might decide to temporarily extend tax cuts for all income levels, then revisit the issue in the new Congress, which convenes in January.
Bob Casey
Washington D.C.
393 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6324
Toll Free: (866) 802-2833
Fax: (202) 228-0604
Casey has said that he's "very open" to extending the Bush tax cuts.
Claire McCaskill
Hart Senate Office Building, Ste. 717
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone 202-224-6154
Fax 202-228-6326
Claire McCaskill says she is willing to compromise on the cuts for the top two percent of wage earners.
I cant find any statements indicating a compromise extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest from Akaka, Feinstein, Carper, Gillibrand, Cantwell,Bill Nelson, Kohl, Brown, Stabenow - if I'm mistaken, please correct me and provide a link so that I can add it to the diary.
BOTTOM LINE: The way to get the President to sign a bill that extends the tax cuts for only the middle class and not the wealthiest 2-3% is TO PUT A BILL IN FRONT OF HIM that only extends the tax cuts for the middle class.
The problem is in the Senate. Take your outrage and focus it where it can actually do some good, will you?
Update [2010-11-11 20:57:13 by RenaRF]: Let me say a couple of thins here.
Yes, you detractors - I understand the whole discussion about leadership. Have at it - you guys can debate and wrangle on that until the cows come home and good on ya. My diary is only aimed at the flurry of activity around signing a petition to the President. My position on this is simple:
- One of two bills is going to be placed before the President. Bill A will be what we want and what he's said all along. Bill B will represent some form of a compromise, which we don't want.
- If Bill A, he signs and we are all happy. If Bill B, he has two options: a) Sign Bill B; or b) Veto Bill B.
- If he vetoes Bill B, there is no time for another bill before the tax cuts expire. This would be politically unwise for obvious reasons (and some not-so-obvious ones) and economically horrendous in this economy. I hear those of you who say "let them all expire" - I think that's economically disastrous.
So I reiterate: the ONLY chance here is to go ahead and get Bill A on the desk. So this diary is aimed at that goal and not (imo) on wasted Presidential positions.