Many of us have believed for a long time that the President and the Republicans would give the top 1% what they wanted on the tax cut extensions, then in the name of deficit reduction call for sacrifice to pay for it (meaning concessions by the middle class, not the wealthy) . Now that the President has capitulated on the first step, look for him to propose austerity measures on social security next.
For those who believe the President did the only thing he could in face of Republican opposition, consider the damage he is doing to the future of the Democratic Party. The more he surrenders to the right, the more he allows our future to be shaped by their policies.
So, repeating a comment I made earlier, "How far are you willing to allow the President to move our party to the right?"
Roy Sekoff on the Ed Schultz Show
"You've got to stand where you live. There's got to be some core value," he said. "Over the last two months, the president over 50 times has said, 'We can't afford this, we can't give these tax cuts to the millionaires and billionaires, that's the line in the sand' -- and it just got erased."
And how is this political move being interpreted overseas?
The US is a land of extremes: climatic, economic and ideological. But amid the turbulent craziness of American politics, there is one constant: money rules. And never more so than in the closing weeks of this sour and eminently forgettable year of 2010 - when the recession never really went away, the Tea Party marched into Washington, and the presidency of Barack Obama shriveled before one's eyes. (Emphasis mine)
This is a very sad day for progressives