The Administration is worrying about fallout from "raising taxes?"

[Jackpine Radical]

Hell, thanks to the right-wing Chatterati in this country a huge proportion of the country already hinks Obama raised their taxes on them.

The Dems can let the tax cuts expire & let the Reptilians accuse them of raising taxes.
Or they can pass the tax cuts & have the Reptilians take credit for keeping taxes down.

It really isn't going to matter by 2012.

Obama's fortunes are going to ride on things much larger than whether or not he lets the Bush tax cuts expire. Things like jobs & the state of the economy. Not to mention what happens to SocSec. People who are out of work and out of unemployment insurance, or who are told that they have to wait a couple of years longer than they expected to retire (and then will be collecting 20% less than they expected) aren't going to base their votes on a half-remembered tax deal in the remote past of 2010.

[Angry Dragon]

1. If they would just do their jobs instead of worrying about their job

then we would not be in this mess

[krispos42]

19. +1 n/t

[wtbymark]

2. I agree

a lot less worrying, a whole lot more DOing

[ProSense]

3. Everything is a win for Republicans

"Hell, thanks to the right-wing Chatterati in this country a huge proportion of the country already hinks Obama raised their taxes on them."

If this is the case, why are people worried about messaging? It appears the "right-wing Chatterati" can spin anything as a win for Republicans.

[veganlush]

7. the Obama tax CUTS

were the biggest in American history, but also the best kept secret, thanks to the totally inept White House messaging.

[ProSense]

11. I seem to remember

that claim being made over and over, but some people were too busy dissing the stimulus

White House On Tea Parties: We Passed The Biggest Tax Cut In History

Health Reform and the Recovery Act: Unprecedented Tax Cuts for the Middle Class


BIGGEST. TAX CUT. EVER...:

Chris Hayes had a similar observation.

On the politics side of the ledger, Ben Smith notes Obama's emphasis on the tax cuts in the bill. I'm not necessarily a fan, though politically it's true that every single Republican member of congress can now be accused of "Voting against the biggest tax cut in history" come next election." Clearly, this hasn't escaped the White House's notice.

[eridani]

18. If they had had any real effects on peoples' lives, messaging would have been unnecessary

Which just goes to show you how stupid tax cuts are as a stimulus policy. If having $400 more or less in a given year affects your yearly spending patterns, you shouldn't be allowed outside without supervision. People believed Repuke nonsense because the tax cuts were essentially useless to them.

[veganlush]

22. right, but by giving checks out

along with a letter signed by bush, the lazy masses KNEW they got a tax cut. Obama'a tax cut, the largest in history at 282 billion, (Reagan's 174 billion, bush's 234 billion) came out of the "Making Work Pay" piece and simply reduced payroll withholding.

Yes, tax cuts as stimulus is a failure, we have ten years of proof. And even the Republican's admit it, though they don't seem to know they are admitting it. Many times repubs have shown up on news shows saying that the stimulus "failed to create a single job".
this means we have tape of repugnants admitting that the biggest tax cut in American history didn't produce a single job.

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. Don't forget that it's also "all fixed" by our "corporate masters"

Stop expecting coherence from fanatics.

[somone]

4. This administration let them frame the issue thusly

on purpose, it looks like

[cilla4progress]

10. Maybe he doesn't WANT to be President

a second term?

[niceypoo]

5. Everything is political, it seems

Once upon a time, politicians did things because they were the right thing to do.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

6. This administration is not very smart. If they were they'd be much more

worried about the fallout from NOT doing or accomplishing what the MAJORITY of Americans want and expect them to do. Sure, you can't please everyone but you CAN please the majority - and do what makes the most economic SENSE at the same time.

So WHAT is the problem?

Idiocy? Stupidity? Lack of any freaking backbone to FIGHT the bullies in the minority?

NOT ACCEPTABLE.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. So, ya think that Obama is trying to win the repuke nomination for president in 2012?

:sarcasm: with a touch of irony and nauseousness..

[w8liftinglady]

9. maybe he should be more worried about these...and screw the Tea Party

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/

One of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population are families with children. In 2007, 23% of all homeless people were members of families with children (US Conference of Mayors, 2007). Recent evidence confirms that homelessness among families is increasing. The rate of requests for emergency assistance by families rose faster than the rate for any other group between 2006 and 2007. In some cities, it rose by as much as 15%. 71% of cities surveyed reported an increase in the number of families with children seeking emergency assistance

http://www.healthcareproblems.org/health-care-statistics.htm

In 2007, nearly 50 million Americans did not have health insurance, while another 25 million were underinsured. (Source: Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey 2007)
The amount people pay for health insurance increased 30 percent from 2001 to 2005, while income for the same period of time only increased 3 percent. (Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
The total annual premium for a typical family health insurance plan offered by employers was $12,680 in 2008. (Source: Kaiser/HRET Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits, 2008)
Healthcare expenditures in the United States exceed $2 trillion a year. (SOURCE: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group;) In comparison, the federal budget is $3 trillion a year.

http://www.numberof.net/number-of-iraq-and-afghanistan-veterans-in-us/

How many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are there in the US?

1.7 million.

According to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), there are more than 1.7 million veterans who served in one of these two countries – most of them aged between 17 and 25 years (41%). All in all, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans represent 7,5% of the veteran population in the US, which counted 22,424,712 in 2008.

[Jackpine Radical]

12. What? Why should he do that?

How many millions are all those homeless people and veterans and whatnot going to put into campaign contributions and running independent ads for him? Hell, a lot of them probably don't even vote.

A guy just has to learn how his bread is buttered and make sure to please the people who are buttering it.

[mmonk]

13. He has his constituency mixed up.

I can understand it with DLC advisors.

[beforeyoureyes]

15. The expiration of Bush tax cuts would pump trillions into the economy over 10 years

The cuts in social programs, the bankruptcy of states, the ability to fund our schools...all of it is contingent upon revenue.

How do you exactly separate this issue from the 'bigger' issues that you listed? They go hand in hand.

[Jackpine Radical]

17. Actually, you're right. It's the correct policy, but one

that the Administration doesn't seem interested in taking.

I was merely pointing out that he has nothing to lose by "raising taxes" on the rich.

[Taitertots]

16. Why haven't they proposed a second Obama tax cut?

Instead of accepting or rejecting the old Bush era robber baron tax cuts.

The larger issues do depend largely on the tax cuts. Letting a tax cut expire is going to increase taxes.

[MadHound]

20. People have longer memories than you think,

And as our economy buckles under those renewed tax cuts, people will know who did the deal.

Besides, if Obama does sign the Bush tax gift to the wealthy into law, he will once again be breaking his promise. People have a tendency not to vote for somebody who makes a habit of going back on his word. This could come back and haunt Obama much like "Read my lips" came back to haunt Bush the Elder.

[Jackpine Radical]

21. I think people will vote based on the state of the economy

at the time of the election. People will vote their wallets, especially at a time like this, and on the whole will display no greater insight into things than they did last month. The economy will no doubt be affected by the tax cuts (assuming they happen as we expect), but the connection between tax cuts in 2010 and a bad economy in 2012 will not be obvious; who's going to connect the dots for them, the Reptilians? Obama? Among them, Krugman, Olberman, Maddow, Hartman etc. have a very small place in the public consciousness. As always, maybe 30% of the public will have some grasp of what's going on, and that's not enough to win an election with. The rest will be voting their spleen.