Obama says he's not caving on tax cuts

[jefferson_dem]

Obama says he's not caving on tax cuts
By Ed Henry, CNN Senior White House Correspondent
November 12, 2010 6:22 a.m. EST

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- President Obama declared Friday that his "No. 1 priority" is preserving tax cuts for the middle class, and sharply denied that comments by his senior adviser David Axelrod suggest that his administration is about to cave in to Republicans who also want to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

"That is the wrong interpretation because I haven't had a conversation with Democratic and Republican leaders," Obama said of a Huffington Post article suggesting that in advance of negotiations with lawmakers next week, the White House has calculated that giving in on tax cuts for the rich is the only way to get the middle class cuts extended too.

"Here's the right interpretation -- I want to make sure that taxes don't go up for middle class families starting on January 1," Obama said at a news conference at the conclusion of the G-20 Summit in South Korea. "That is my No. 1 priority for those families and for our economy. I also believe that it would be fiscally irresponsible for us to permanently extend the high income tax cuts.

"I think that would be a mistake, particularly when we've got our Republican friends saying that their No. 1 priority is making sure that we are dealing with our debt and our deficit," he said.

<SNIP>

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/12/obama.tax.cuts/index.html?hpt=T1

[bigdarryl]

1. The media is the one driving this narrative on him saying he is compromising

[Tansy_Gold]

2. "Republican friends"????

You have none, Mr. President. And you need to learn that lesson pdq.

They don't like you and they are NEVER going to like you and they are NEVER going to work with you. They hate you, they loathe your very presence in "their" White House, and their only objective is to get rid of you.

THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS.








AND THEY ARE CERTAINLY NOT MINE.



TG, NTY

[disillusioned73]

13. Good stuff Tansy - it must be repeated...

"Republican friends"????
Posted by Tansy_Gold

"You have none, Mr. President. And you need to learn that lesson pdq.

They don't like you and they are NEVER going to like you and they are NEVER going to work with you. They hate you, they loathe your very presence in "their" White House, and their only objective is to get rid of you.

THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS."


Thank you Tansy_Gold

[Tansy_Gold]

14. Thanks!

:hi:

[truth2power]

19. I agree, Tansy...

Unfortunately, Obama hasn't yet internalized what you just said.

He once said, "I'm not a sap". Well, you sure couldn't tell that by the way he grovels before the Republicans.

[CakeGrrl]

25. Oh, for fuck's sake, you KNOW they'll be all over him like

white on rice if he says anything less.

Well, I'm pretty sure HE knows it if you don't.

And it'll be much ado about nothing, more distraction from substantive issues, but that's the way the Republican-controlled "media" rolls.

Why do people jump on the most literal interpretations?

[Tansy_Gold]

26. I only eat brown rice n/t

[Kdillard]

3. Good. It is going to be a long two years. k and r.

[Dawgs]

4. Temporarily extend them is not okay either Mr. President.

What a failure.

[Pholus]

5. Why not INCENT trickle down with tax cuts? Pay for performance like education!

10% unemployment = 85% base tax rate on those making more than 250k/year
4% unemployment = 25% base tax rate on those making more than 250k/year

That way, there is an INCENTIVE to create jobs and an INCENTIVE to not ship them overseas.

Now if I could just find something as stupid as standardized testing for the wealthy this would completely work like education -- which all politicians claim can be fixed by "pay for performance" and "standardized testing"

[grumgrum]

6. Wait a minute...Nothing has changed...He still is Open to Temp Tax Cuts for Wealthy

His comments only suggest he hasnt done the cordial routine of meeting and shaking handds. It is clear the path he is going to take is to extend the tax cuts for the wealthy if it means getting middleclass tax cuts.

This is not a smart strategy to openly let the opposing side know your next and only move. Very poor strategy! Republicans now know the very least they can get is Temp Tax cuts for the wealthy (and likely for 2 years bringing the issue to the forefront in the '12 election) and so they will pretty much come out trying to push the president for even more because it is clear the president is willing to give in...either way it seems like a win-win for Republicans. As long as repubs get their tax cuts for the wealthy they dont give a damn about the deficit and so if the peasants want their tax cut too so be it and let the democrats (esp. Obama) be blamed for an even larger deficit than bush left.

If dems were smart they'd deal with it during this Lame Duck session by way of creating a new bill for perm tax-cuts for middle-class (which i think is just as foolish since tax cuts do nothing) and ignoring anything for the wealthy -- allowing them to expire in January.1.

The ideal move is to let the entire thing expire but it is clear Obama is not that type of President.

[Clio the Leo]

7. I think he's trying to go on record as wanting to extend the md. cuts...

.... in case the GOP manages to let all of them expire, the blame will go to them. See...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x519470

[BeyondGeography]

9. I hope that's the case

The alternative reading is he is prepared to extend the rich (and fiscally unaffordable) bounty that the top rate represents to the upper class so that the middle class can keep receiving their crumbs.

I hope that's not the case.

[Clio the Leo]

10. Read the articles I linked to....

.... Dems are screwed either way.

[woo me with science]

8. Good. Now he needs to explain why. nt

[Dragonfli]

11. He is not caving - just kicking the can down the road a couple of years?

While letting them keep their cuts for now.
How is that not caving since they get their tax cuts anyway?
Permanent is the key word here and the future can not be defended from the present so they may well get them permanently in the end as well.

He should have just said "I am only caving for the rest of my first term, after that it may not even be my problem anymore, even if I get reelected I might even "not cave" in the same fashion for another 4 year extension or I might not. Let me be CLEAR I still believe it's wrong, I just want it to continue for now."

[Life Long Dem]

12. If Repubs want tax cuts to be permanent

and won't compromise on anything else, then Obama can be in a jam. If Obama is left with letting the tax cuts expire because of this, then a compromise to cut taxes down the road for the Dems might not have the votes. This puts Obama in a jam for 2012. If the Repubs don't care as much about the tax cuts as they do Obama failing then it sucks to be Obama over this one.

The deficit might look good by 2012 but would voters vote on this and not about Obama raising taxes on them?

[disillusioned73]

15. And here inlies the problem...

"The deficit might look good by 2012 but would voters vote on this and not about Obama raising taxes on them?"

The corporate media has already created the narrative that sunsetting these reconciliation passed, unfunded, deficit creating BUSH tax cuts will be an Obama tax INCREASE... ugh

Perception is becoming reality more & more with our ignorant populace..

note, I am not calling you ignorant - your wording just reminded me of what we're up against..

[Phx_Dem]

16. Doesn't matter what Obama thinks. DUers and HuffPosters have it all figured out.

They already know everything.

[ljm2002]

17. Well I guess it depends on what you mean by "cave"...

...because this quote tells me he is doing exactly that:

--"Here's the right interpretation -- I want to make sure that taxes don't go up for middle class families starting on January 1," Obama said at a news conference at the conclusion of the G-20 Summit in South Korea. "That is my No. 1 priority for those families and for our economy. I also believe that it would be fiscally irresponsible for us to permanently extend the high income tax cuts.--

Note the careful phrasing: "...it would be fiscally irresponsible for us to permanently extend the high income tax cuts."

The man knows what he is doing. He is signaling a willingness to "temporarily" extend the tax cuts to the rich, and he is trying to couch it as living up to his commitment not to raise taxes on middle class families. It's political doublespeak and anyone who is paying attention knows it.

The next thing that will happen is, he will "have to" include the tax cuts for the rich in order to "keep his promise" to the middle class.

He could have said "We are not going to irresponsibly extend tax cuts for the wealthy top 2% of Americans who already pay historically low rates. We are going to retain the tax cuts for the other 98% of Americans. If my Republican friends want to block that, then we'll let them explain why they wish to raise taxes on the majority of Americans in order to protect the windfall tax rates for those Americans who are already doing very well." Or something like that. He might lose the fight. But at least he would be forcing the conversation.

I know, ha ha, dream on.

[The Uncola]

18. The CorpoDems really do...

.. think we are stupid. How'd that work out for you in the last election?

[playstation]

20. Temporary is caving.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

22. Why bother? n/t

[impik]

23. No 200 recs here, I see. Pathetic

[grumgrum]

24. Translation: HuffPost was Right - they're Caving.

Obama just reiterated what the HP article was saying..they plan on extending the tax cuts for the rich temporarily...which is exactly what republicans were aiming for...get it for 2 years and make it an election issue in '12 and potentially permanent for the next repub president.

Bad Move Mr President.

[Aramchek]

27. did you create this account just to come attack Obama?

your pizza will be arriving shortly.

[ProSense]

28. Lost in translation: HuffPost was spin

"Here's the right interpretation -- I want to make sure that taxes don't go up for middle class families starting on January 1," Obama said at a news conference at the conclusion of the G-20 Summit in South Korea. "That is my No. 1 priority for those families and for our economy. I also believe that it would be fiscally irresponsible for us to permanently extend the high income tax cuts.

"Obama just reiterated what the HP article was saying..they plan on extending the tax cuts for the rich temporarily"

Fail!