I agree with Howard Dean and other progressive writers...Obama must be willing to not concede to GOP demands to extend tax cuts to the rich and must be ready to go over the financial cliff if necessary...
Let’s Not Make a Deal
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: November 8, 2012 850 Comments
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/op...eal.html?_r=1&To say the obvious: Democrats won an amazing victory. Not only did they hold the White House despite a still-troubled economy, in a year when their Senate majority was supposed to be doomed, they actually added seats.
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Paul Krugman
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Nor was that all: They scored major gains in the states. Most notably, California — long a poster child for the political dysfunction that comes when nothing can get done without a legislative supermajority — not only voted for much-needed tax increases, but elected, you guessed it, a Democratic supermajority.
But one goal eluded the victors. Even though preliminary estimates suggest that Democrats received somewhat more votes than Republicans in Congressional elections, the G.O.P. retains solid control of the House thanks to extreme gerrymandering by courts and Republican-controlled state governments. And Representative John Boehner, the speaker of the House, wasted no time in declaring that his party remains as intransigent as ever, utterly opposed to any rise in tax rates even as it whines about the size of the deficit.
So President Obama has to make a decision, almost immediately, about how to deal with continuing Republican obstruction. How far should he go in accommodating the G.O.P.’s demands?
My answer is, not far at all. Mr. Obama should hang tough, declaring himself willing, if necessary, to hold his ground even at the cost of letting his opponents inflict damage on a still-shaky economy. And this is definitely no time to negotiate a “grand bargain” on the budget that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
In saying this, I don’t mean to minimize the very real economic dangers posed by the so-called fiscal cliff that is looming at the end of this year if the two parties can’t reach a deal. Both the Bush-era tax cuts and the Obama administration’s payroll tax cut are set to expire, even as automatic spending cuts in defense and elsewhere kick in thanks to the deal struck after the 2011 confrontation over the debt ceiling. And the looming combination of tax increases and spending cuts looks easily large enough to push America back into recession.
Nobody wants to see that happen. Yet it may happen all the same, and Mr. Obama has to be willing to let it happen if necessary.
Why? Because Republicans are trying, for the third time since he took office, to use economic blackmail to achieve a goal they lack the votes to achieve through the normal legislative process. In particular, they want to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, even though the nation can’t afford to make those tax cuts permanent and the public believes that taxes on the rich should go up — and they’re threatening to block any deal on anything else unless they get their way. So they are, in effect, threatening to tank the economy unless their demands are met.
Mr. Obama essentially surrendered in the face of similar tactics at the end of 2010, extending low taxes on the rich for two more years. He made significant concessions again in 2011, when Republicans threatened to create financial chaos by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. And the current potential crisis is the legacy of those past concessions.
Well, this has to stop — unless we want hostage-taking, the threat of making the nation ungovernable, to become a standard part of our political process.
So what should he do? Just say no, and go over the cliff if necessary.
Howard Dean:
So I think we ought to go over the cliff; we ought to bite the bullet; it'll take seven and a half trillion dollars out of our deficit - that's a big number, and there will be sacrifices, but any politician who tells the American people there aren't going to be sacrifices for everybody is a liar.
Move the top marginal rate back to 70%+ and see how fact the rich will move out elsewhere.
It's a different world than those decades past.
So you're saying that the rich are less patriotic nowadays WC?
Not at all. They are probably as patriotic as any other class of wealth. They simply have greater mobility than a common person does, and there are so many great places in the world today.So you're saying that the rich are less patriotic nowadays WC?
If raising taxes means richers like Trump, the Koch Brothers, and Shelden Adelson leave the country, sign me up.
Why are you a bigot against rich people?
I really hope this new "bigotry against rich people" thing isn't something you expect to be taken seriously.
Why are you constantly throating rich people scrote? Do you think the Koch Brothers read these forums and are impressed by the fellatio you give them on a daily basis?
job creators
Hatred is hatred.I really hope this new "bigotry against rich people" thing isn't something you expect to be taken seriously.
Why are you constantly throating rich people scrote? Do you think the Koch Brothers read these forums and are impressed by the fellatio you give them on a daily basis?
Live with it. You are a ing bigot.
lol WC thinks he has a new gotcha line.
Gay love is gay love.
Live with it. You have gay love for the Koch Brothers.
he learned the word bigot last week and he thinks it's the best thing ever
Bullies and bigots and flaglots, oh my!
I don't know, leaving your country because you'll earn millions less seems like a lack of patriotism. Instead of reinvesting in your country, you just move to a different one. I certainly hope my friends are a little more loyal than that.
And does every one share your belief?I don't know, leaving your country because you'll earn millions less seems like a lack of patriotism. Instead of reinvesting in your country, you just move to a different one. I certainly hope my friends are a little more loyal than that.
Look at the hatred these people have to deal with. The pettiness of others demanding more from them. They already pay more than most in taxes, but the "little people" want them to pay more. Don't you think they get a bit frustrated with the pettiness of others?
I think you've lost your mind. The resentment is based upon the concept of fairness. There is simply no case for the current tax structure, one that hugely favors the wealthy, as being anything remotely considered fair.
Also the concept of CEO's of failed companies pulling in millions is fairly repulsive.
Pettiness pretty much describes your idiotic response.
Inequality is what it is. It's always been an artifact of societization. Doesn't mean it's peachy.
I agree, they live a really tough life. I'm sure the Waltons, the Koch Brothers, Trump, and Adelson wake up every day wishing they could live in the ghetto and collect welfare.
Especially since, until recently, bigotry to him washe learned the word bigot last week and he thinks it's the best thing ever
LOL...
Looks like I touch a nerve...
The truth hurts. Doesn't it.
lol @ truth
WC's knobslobbing of the rich folk is up there with 'benevolent dictators'... it only makes sense in the mind of an idiot
Don't forget the benevolent slaveowners.
WC's knobslobbing of the rich folk is up there with 'benevolent dictators'... it only makes sense in the mind of an idiot
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