» During his time as Minnesota’s governor, Tim Pawlenty staked out a few moderate stances. This is understandable, as Minnesota is a moderate state. But moderation doesn’t fly in the current incantation of the Republican party (just ask Mike Castle or Bob Bennett). It especially doesn’t fly for Republicans who want to be President, and perhaps no position is as sacrosanct to the modern Republican party as that of low taxes. Still, Pawlenty’s proposed tax plan is really extreme, even by supply-sider standards; for example, he proposes that millionaires alone receive a 41% tax cut. So, while it’s understandable that T-Paw wants quell the concerts of Republican primary voters by tacking to the right, we wonder if he really needed to adopt a tax plan that, in the words of Ezra Klein, “makes George W. Bush look like Robin Hood.”
“What if we attack the deficit by getting rid of the Bush tax cuts? OH, LOOK AT THAT!”
— Jon Stewart, offering an alternative to Paul Ryan’s proposed slashing to, among other things, Medicare and Medicaid to rein in spending, on The Daily Show
» But don’t worry, not everyone gets the shaft under Ryan’s proposal. Although 2/3 of the savings derived from his plan come by cutting services for poor people, his budget does firmly protect—surprise!—George Bush’s tax cuts for the rich. In all fairness, letting those cuts expire would increase tax rates for the highest earners by an appalling 4%, but it would also save the country an additional $1 trillion over the next ten years. So let’s get this straight: Ryan wants to cut services for the poor and retain absurdly-low tax rates for billionaires. Wasn’t this guy supposed to be the new face of the Republican party?
Alright guys. Time to rock and roll. Obama got his tax compromise, even after House Democrats got all uncomfortable about it towards the end there. The process was a little tense, but eventually the House passed it as-is, 277 to 148. Obama learned the art of triangulation well from Master Sensei Bill Clinton, and will now be in the good graces of the GOP for approximately ten minutes. Savor them, Barack, because you’ve earned them. You only had to sell out the estate tax and a number of your people in your own party to do it. But sometimes, to Get Things Done, you have to do some selling out. This is why Superdrag isn’t on the radio anymore and Weezer is still going strong. Weezer Got Things Done. source
We’re not going to hold this thing up at the end of the day.Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen • Admitting what’s been obvious from the outset – the Obama tax compromise will eventually pass. The GOP knows this. Obama knows this, and House Democrats, who perhaps have been most dead-set against it (barring Bernie Sanders) are starting to turn around and begrudgingly accept it. By offering up the compromise he did when he did, Obama knew what he was doing. source (via • follow)
So, how does Obama expect the tax compromise to pass? According to David Axelrod (who spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union” today), it’ll go a little like this: First, the Senate will take up the compromise Monday, written in such a way that it’ll probably pass there (barring more awesome Bernie Sanders filibusters). Then … well, we’ll let David finish this: “We believe that when it comes back to the House, that we will get a vote, and that we’ll prevail there.” So, long story short – the Obama administration expects one chamber to fall, and when that one does, so will the other one. source
Know how we know the Obama compromise is smarter than it looks? Because you have guys like Charles Krauthammer basically calling him a genius. Krauthammer, a pretty solid conservative guy, suggests that Obama is smarter than his own party, because the tax-cut plan he just put in place is really a massive stimulus in everything but name; yet he’s also smarter than the GOP, because he got them to agree to a massive stimulus by making them think it was a tax cut. “Obama is no fool,” Krauthammer writes. “While getting Republicans to boost his own reelection chances, he gets them to make a mockery of their newfound, second-chance, post-Bush, Tea-Party, this-time-we’re-serious persona of debt-averse fiscal responsibility.” And that, friends, is a pretty entertaining take on the whole mess. But will it go through? source
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
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Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
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Look, the fact of the matter is that, for a decade now we have had the tendency to think that we can keep on having all the services we want and … can keep cutting taxes as much as we want and that somehow things are going to magically balance out.Barack Obama • Discussing the country’s current tax situation – basically a suggestion that we’ve been living like we can have our cake and eat it too. Obama, on the other hand, doesn’t think that’s true; he suggests his compromise would play out as “a central battle as part of a larger discussion about how do we reform our tax code so that it’s fair” and a way to deal with the deficit in “an intelligent way.” Obama is playing for long-term gain, and if he’s successful, he’ll make a stronger long-term mark. Of course, that still means it needs to pass, which Obama’s confident will eventually happen (even if it didn’t yesterday). source (via • follow)
Obama can count on one influential Democrat in his corner. Problem is, it’s John Kerry, who’s as exciting as vat of ketchup. OK, now that we’ve gotten the veiled insult at his wife out of his way, let’s see what he has to say about the compromise: “The truth is, the President got a lot of things here we’ve been fighting for that we haven’t yet been able to win any other way.” It’s one of a number of messages that the White House has been distributing tonight. We have to emphasize, though, that we’re with Andrew Sullivan on this one: It’s frustrating to see Obama compromise, but he’s playing a pretty good game of handball with the GOP in making this compromise. source
This is not the government making a major new commitment to the recovery. It’s the government not getting in the way, and maybe doing a bit to help, the horribly slow recovery that’s happening anyway.Policy wonk Ezra Klein • Regarding the tax cut deal struck today by The White House and the GOP. Klein likes the thirteen-month extension of unemployment benefits; on the bad side, he cites the effect the deal will have on the deficit. “It’s a lot better than I would’ve told you the White House was going to get if you’d asked me a week ago,” he admits, but still not quite enough to substantially stimulate the economy. source (via • follow)
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