In the most up front admission yet that the 2001 deficit-ballooning tax cuts were a sop to the mega-rich but created a fiscal (plus political) time bomb, the former Communications director for the Bush presidency, Dan Bartlett, is gushing:
"The fact that we were able to lay the trap does feel pretty good, to tell you the truth."
On the 10-year auto-expiration, he says, "We knew that, politically, once you get it into law, it becomes almost impossible to remove it."
"That’s not a bad legacy."
In an interview with Howard Kurtz of the DailyBeast, chief of staff Andy Card concurred with Bush's communication chief, explaining that the non-permanent, sunsetting tax change allowed it to win passage without having to muster an impossibly high 60-vote threshold for approval. (It was approved in 2001 with 58 aye votes, and the Democrats didn't stop it by filibuster.)
So how can the Democrats pull out of the trap now?
[cross-posted at > politicalcortex.com]
This morning, Senate Republicans filibustered the bill that would continue tax cuts, except in full for millionaires.
The GOP senators aim to hold out for full tax cuts for the wealthiest, at an extra tack-on of $700B to the debt.
The vote of 53-36 means the filibuster against extending tax rates at a cost of $3B — since Republicans are holding out for more, at a cost of almost $4B — prevails.
What is the next best move now?
Well, since most Americans – even most Republican ones, [new CBS poll: 52% of Republicans say no to tax cuts on income over $250,000 - 41% prefer tax cuts below $250,000, 11% believe all tax cuts can expire; vs 46% of GOP who want tax cuts up to the tippy top of the income scale] do not believe in extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest – the time has come to lay down the marker.
Sticking to the most sensible, and the simplest, priorities, the Senate should hold votes only to:
Keep bringing these economic and policy bills to the floor; let the Republicans filibuster prosperity and national security.
If they hold their filibuster, then let's leave it to the Republicans in Congress to address the tax-debt bomb they're gunning for so badly, when their numbers in Congress expand in January in the next session.
They'll have the House majority, and Senate numbers in ascending.
It's their own trap. Let them walk into it.