NYT's Jackie Calmes:
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday will make clear that he opposes any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said, adding a populist twist to an election-season economic package that is otherwise designed to entice support from big businesses and their Republican allies.
Mr. Obama’s opposition to allowing the high-end tax cuts to remain in place for even another year or two would be the signal many Congressional Democrats have been awaiting as they prepare for a showdown with Republicans on the issue and ends speculation that the White House might be open to an extension. Democrats say only the president can rally wavering lawmakers who, amid the party’s weakened poll numbers, feel increasingly vulnerable to Republican attacks if they let the top rates lapse at the end of this year as scheduled.
It's sort of amusing that President Obama would need to reassure any Democrats on this issue. By an overwhelming margin, the public supports allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire as scheduled at the end of the year. It's a position Obama held throughout the campaign (and served him quite well) and he hasn't wavered on it as President. Democrats ought to support him on this: it's what they were elected to do.
The President is scheduled to speak about the tax cuts and other economic measures at 2:10PM ET. In addition to voicing his opposition to any deal on the Bush tax cuts, he'll announce plans for new tax measures intended to support economic growth, building on his infrastructure proposal from earlier this week. One of his proposals would make an R&D tax credit permanent and the other would allow companies to claim a write off for the full value of new qualified capital investments through 2011.
Join the discussions in recommended diaries by slinkerwink and Sydserious.