I have a way to win this fight, but it needs to reach those in charge - DKOS, do your thing...
Now I know, this tax cut deal is the worst thing since Hitler. I'm not going to debate whether it was good or bad, I'm merely concerned with the best way to get what we want given what's recently transpired. In other words, I'm about to get all pragmatic up in this bitch.
So... Dems in the House and Senate are furious and outraged over this recent deal, and are threatening to block its passage. This would be political suicide - the result of not passing it would be to deny unemployment benefits to the same people they've been claiming need them so much, and raising taxes on those they've claimed need them the most. It would be cutting off our collective nose to spite our face. Instead, I have a practical, strategical solution that get us to our desired end game.
The record now shows that many Dems are totally displeased with the current proposal. I say we use this to our advantage. So here is what the members of the House/Senate need to do:
Accept the current tax cut deal with ONE change. Insist that the middle class tax cuts be permanent (i.e. not automatically expire). Leave everything else as is.
Why? Because we will then be de-coupling the two tax brackets, and in two years we will ONLY be voting on whether or not to extend the tax breaks for the rich. The Repugs will no longer be able to use middle class tax cuts as leverage in their all-or-nothing argument. They will NOT be able to hold the middle class hostage. They will be left with ONE argument: give rich people more money. In two years' time, the economy should be on much better footing than it is now, so they won't be able to use that as justification either.
Think about it; how could they possibly logically object to that one modification? THEY are the ones who say tax cuts are so important. So making the cuts for the middle class permanent can only be a good thing, right? Saying no to that one modification is a totally indefensible argument. So the curious Dems will agree to go along with the current proposal, as long as they get that provision. And in two years, we end the tax cuts for the rich once and for all. Yes, we will be giving them more money for the next two years, and yes it will add to the deficit. But again, I'm just trying to think of a realistic way of eventually being able to win this fight.
UPDATE: By permanent, I mean that it does not have an defined expiration. Yes, it can be raised, but it would necessarily require a specific vote to raise them, whereas in their current state a specific vote is needed to keep them. It is because of the vote needed to keep them that the Repubs have leverage, and it's this leverage that I'm trying to deny them in two years' time.