An Easy One
The politics of extending Bush’s upper-class tax cuts are indeed straightforward. If you win and just extend them for lower brackets, fine. If you lose, you still win: you have a political issue, and the new policy status quo would be much better than extending the Bush tax cuts (and arguably better than the selective extension.) Letting the cuts expire will be painted by the GOP as a “tax hike,” but they’ll say that no matter what. And extending all of the tax cuts in exchange for a “deal” to let them all expire is indeed particularly senseless, not least because you’d have to be crazy to think the Republicans who will probably control some or all of the relevant branches of the government when the time comes will actually respect any “deal.”
I agree completely. And it is also important to hammer the fact that these tax cuts for the rich have been in place for years and that they failed to create jobs or whatever national miracle they were supposed to produce.
It all fits very neatly into a thirty second ad.
I would have a specific ad that targeted the banks who asses were saved by the taxpayers, who then gave themselves huge bonuses, who are not not willing to pay their fair share. Properly done, it would be very effective at putting the Republicans on the defensive.
It’s such a good idea that no Democrat will do it.
i’d like the first sentence of this post a lot better if it were written in standard English.
oops. sorry. second sentence.
The perils of posting before class–corrected.
Seconded, or thirded. The notion that the cuts will be ended completely in two years as part of any deal is purest fantasy and that would likely be true even if the Democrats are in “control” of both houses of Congress at the time.
“They say we can’t afford another stimulus package, or to extend unemployment benefits, on account of the deficit. But when it comes to tax cuts for millionaires, suddenly money is no object.”
Sound byte practically writes itself.
This. Over and over.
If Republicans won’t make a deal, all the tax cuts expire. A fairly big stick if Obama chooses to stand up and be a man.
Of course, the Democrats are so inept they will allow themselves to be blamed, not the Republicans.
You can pass this through reconciliation. There should be more than enough Democrats in the House to pass this thing and if not tell Nancy to get out her beatin’ stick.
I think this misses the point of how to publicly force the Republicans to look like jerks on this issue. Governing the country is passe.