Check the weather reports, because I'd swear right now that Hell must have frozen over on this late November day. I've heard a couple of things from two different people, and given recent history, you'd think that I would dismiss one of them out of hand. But, as is the case when Hell freezes or pigs fly or Republicans find sanity, sometimes rare things align, and well, I agree with someone you might think I wouldn't.
On Andrea Mitchell's show today, she's had on a few different guests, as to be expected.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was one of them. I know, I know, he Gestapo'd through Zuccotti Park last week against Occupy Wall Street. I was awake at 1 am when that went down and I was on Twitter watching all the accounts and pictures and the LRAD and whatever.
But today, he said something I thought made a lot of sense. And, honestly, the guest that followed him validated my agreement with him.
Mitchell was talking about the failure of the Super Congress (TM) to agree to some austerity wet dream, and Bloomberg was given the chance to comment. Bloomberg said he didn't think Obama deserved "any more of the blame", but did point out that "He is the Chief Executive of the country, elected to lead...so..."
(Ed. Note: I'll put a video up if/when it becomes available, given that it literally just happened, it does not appear to exist yet on the web)
But Bloomberg than said that Obama could "take the tax issue off the table" by announcing he would veto "Any extension of the Bush tax cuts, including for the middle class".
Bloomberg went on to say that anyone who says the deficit problem can be solved with "only one (spending cuts) or the other (tax increases)" is, "either stupid, or is not being honest".
That's refreshing to hear someone of Villager quality say, but Bloomberg goes further, saying that by threatening to veto any and all tax cuts, Republicans would have to come up with some sort of better deal, or would have to explain to their anti-tax zealot base why their taxes are getting raised.
You can argue the politics of Obama just saying "That's it, across the board tax hikes", but as far as the debt actually goes, a lot of us here have argued for the "do nothing" route in which the Bush tax cuts just expire anyway. So it's clear that there are people who see this as a good thing.
For this, and this alone, I think Bloomberg has an excellent piece of advice for the President. I support it, and if Obama said that tomorrow, I'd be ecstatic.
...Of course, it won't happen. At least, not if Gene Sperling's words, spoken on behalf of the White House, reflect actual thinking by the President.
Sperling, the National Economic Director, was on next, after Bloomberg. Mitchell relayed what Bloomberg said, and basically cross-examined Sperling on this, and would this be something the White House would do?
Sperling couldn't say "No way" fast enough; "We don't believe we should punish working class families for this", he said. Ugh. Okay...arguing that raising taxes amounts to "punishment", well, honestly, I can see that coming back to bite him in the ass in a campaign ad. Great. Let's give oxygen to the right wing meme that "taxation" is "punishment".
But Sperling didn't stop there with truly head-to-desk inducing statements. As Mitchell talked on, providing the classic Village bullshit of "But but, both sides are to blame!!, Sperling jumped up and said that wasn't true. Yes, he blamed Republicans. That's good, right?
Not so fast.
Sperling pointed out, with way too much enthusiasm, that Democrats had "moved" on entitlement spending, and that they'd been more than willing to "compromise" away things that the liberal base deeply cares about in the spirit of "Grand Bargaining"; But nooooo, Sperling says...those gosh darn Republicans just wouldn't jump off the cliff with us, and they wouldn't compromise on that anti-tax orthodoxy. Sperling tsk-tsked the Republicans, and ended his segment by placing Republicans squarely in the crosshairs.
So, to recap:
Mike Bloomberg blames Republicans, but says Obama can take their power by issuing a veto threat against the Bush Tax Cuts...and then Obama's National Economic Director blames Republicans for not agreeing to take a suicide pill that Democrats had already put up to their own lips.
Since Hell is now frozen, you'll have to excuse me. Time to play the lottery.