All we need to know...
...about the Obama-McConnell pact:
Furthermore, there is absolutely no defense for extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy for which the original justification was our post-Clinton budget surplus, something that's only a distant memory now. These tax cuts will add to the deficit for no purpose, except as a bargaining chip for the unemployment extension? Sorry, no.
Make the Republicans come out and declare that, against the Democrats' intentions, the Republicans are intent upon throwing these unemployed people under the bus (along with the 99-ers who wouldn't be helped anyway). Make it blindingly obvious who their enemies are! Don't bargain away the future of the country in order to avoid this confrontation! Bundling these two things together is genius on the part of the Republicans, and an utter blunder on the part of Mr. Obama.
This is NOT a case of "the perfect being an enemy of the good"--this is a deal that is flawed at its very core. This Obama tax cut deal trades the "hostage" of 1 million unemployed (for just one year) for a HOSTAGE of our entire country's long-term economic future, making everyone worse off in the long run (except perhaps for the grotesquely wealthy, but even they need to live in a functioning country)!
Let all the Bush tax cuts expire--the cost to those of us at the bottom is trivial in comparison to what it will cost the country to let them ride!
Fight to extend benefits to ALL of the unemployed, but this should include the start up of a WPA-like jobs program, so that we get something for our money!
Strengthen Social Security by raising the cap!
And get us out of ALL of our misbegotten military adventures!
That's a pact I could get behind.
"Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, tells National Review Online that a tentative tax deal between President Obama and the GOP is “a much bigger victory than people see” for the Republicans." (emphasis added)Since Mr. Norquist's overriding goal has always been to "starve" the government, in order to force it to obliterate all social safety nets, and since this Obama-McConnell deal includes a partial defunding of Social Security (by lowering FICA from 6.2% of wages up to $106k, to 4.2%) in the face of the already-declared underfunded status of Social Security due to arrive sometime in the next 20-30 years, it is pretty obvious where this pact will take us, if it passes.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/254638/norquist-tax-deal-andrew-stiles
Furthermore, there is absolutely no defense for extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy for which the original justification was our post-Clinton budget surplus, something that's only a distant memory now. These tax cuts will add to the deficit for no purpose, except as a bargaining chip for the unemployment extension? Sorry, no.
Make the Republicans come out and declare that, against the Democrats' intentions, the Republicans are intent upon throwing these unemployed people under the bus (along with the 99-ers who wouldn't be helped anyway). Make it blindingly obvious who their enemies are! Don't bargain away the future of the country in order to avoid this confrontation! Bundling these two things together is genius on the part of the Republicans, and an utter blunder on the part of Mr. Obama.
This is NOT a case of "the perfect being an enemy of the good"--this is a deal that is flawed at its very core. This Obama tax cut deal trades the "hostage" of 1 million unemployed (for just one year) for a HOSTAGE of our entire country's long-term economic future, making everyone worse off in the long run (except perhaps for the grotesquely wealthy, but even they need to live in a functioning country)!
Let all the Bush tax cuts expire--the cost to those of us at the bottom is trivial in comparison to what it will cost the country to let them ride!
Fight to extend benefits to ALL of the unemployed, but this should include the start up of a WPA-like jobs program, so that we get something for our money!
Strengthen Social Security by raising the cap!
And get us out of ALL of our misbegotten military adventures!
That's a pact I could get behind.
posted by Kathleen at 12:48 PM
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