We can help him out of his bizarro-world incoherence by joining the phone banking to whip the Senate Dems right now, this afternoon, to oppose any taxcut bonuses to the uber-rich.

Both the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America are running phone banks. Check your email where you normally get DFA or PCCC messages, or go to the links I embedded.

I told my Senators there is no reason for the Democratic Party to continue to exist if it lets the wealthy control our tax policy. I also linked the taxcut bonuses for the uber-rich to likely long-term destruction of Social Security and Medicare. The wealthy are so greedy for taxcut bonuses, they will demand cuts to both of those most solid safety-net programs to feed their greed.

Senate offices are being swamped with calls right now. Make sure your Senators hear from you!

Despite how bad the politics were played way, making the president look weak and/or dishonest, I can at least see the Keynesian logic to this deal in this bad economy. While the tax cuts for the wealthy are extremely ineffective stimulus, they do have some effect. Extending unemployment benefits will help a lot of people. That along with the Make Work Pay tax credit are both cost effective stimulus.

they have a negative impact when compared with spending that money on progressive programs

there is no way to look at those “cuts” as positive, they are not “cuts” they keep us from investing where those assets are sorely needed in this (and any) economy

This is more bread and circuses, and not going to fix anything.

Another epic fail by Zero.

I wish it was mixed messages. It is very clear from this failed Administration. The President only cares about more wars. The President only cares about protecting a corrupt financial house of cards that will sooner or later collapse. This President is clueless about the suffering of people.

Obama is making war against the American people, for the benefit of his corporate puppeteers.

I flatly disagree. The impact of expiration of the tax cuts for everyone will have a short term impact, but it will be fixed for at least the middle class eventually, and there will be some extension of unemployment benefits also.

The tax cuts for the rich will never expire. Rich people refuse to pay taxes, and they do not use the money productively. It goes into speculation or investments overseas. By strangling revenues, the wealthy preserve their status at the expense of the rest of us. When they have eaten all the resources in this country, the rich will pack up and move.

This President is clueless could care less about the suffering of people.

With respect, fixed it for you. Otherwise: quite agree.

Wasn’t the FED recent spending supposed to be the ‘incentive’ for ‘economic growth’?

And whether anyone recognizes it or not, what Obama has effectively done is make it a lot harder for any other black man(or mixed race black, you choose the phrase) to be elected President.

It’s a wonder he has any children at all given his lack of balls.

President Obama just blamed and used “2 million unemployed Americans” as an excuse to put through tax policies (income tax and estate taxes) which will further destroy our government. I am completely disgusted with this President and need to turn off all media for a while.

Agree 100%. Extending tax cuts for the rich has no stimulative effect and disastrous long term effects. Trading off unemployment benefits for tax cuts for the rich is fucking obscene.

Once again, this clown has broken a campaign promise and sold us out. Dump his ass now.

Agree. The rich don’t even need to pack up & move. They can stay wherever they want. They have gone global, most of the larger corporations are international conglomerates owing nothing to any nation. The rich can live where they want and command their empires as they please, owing nothing to anyone.

Take heed: our uber-wealthy are green with envy over the super wealthy in third world countries, like Pakhistan, where the very rich pay NO taxes. Believe me, that’s where these sh*ts are headed, and too large a segment of our population will willingly capitulate and happily agree that the super wealthy should never have to pay taxes ever just because. That is the logical outcome, and that’s what we’re being prepped to “accept.”

Hope I’m wrong, but I seriously doubt it.

What a bucket of Frozen shit this “Compromise” is. Fuck BO. He is Toast!!
He lost my vote long ago but now he has also lost my respect. Tell Harry to pass just the middle class tax cut, benefits for the unemployed till the unemployment number is 7% with reconciliation. What a pussy..

“Shared sacrifice” seems to mean the working poor do the sacrificing, so that more can be shared with the rich.

Ds in the House and Senate have a choice: Stand with us or go down in flames with this asshole.

If President Obama wants to make sure that nobody believes a word he says, well, mission accomplished.

The tax cuts for the rich will never expire. …. and they do not use the money productively.

masaccio, that is a diary all by itself, spot on and front page stuff

looking forward to seeing it!

As soon as this is over, he will morph back into a deficit hawk and go after SS contributions to fund the wars and tax cuts.

The guy is not weak, he’s not easily manipulated, and he is certainly not spineless. What he is, is a lying scumbag sociopath willing to screw over the powerless so he can give to the powerful.

I am amazed that people still apologize for him (not talking about FDL here).

I would expand some on what you’ve said. I think he has made it nearly impossible, for at least 3 Presidential cycles, for a Dem or left-of-center candidate to campaign on Hope, or Change, or public option health care insurance or anything promising uplift for non-billionaires. Really. Imagine how hollow any of that will ring, if from a Dem.

As Buggs Bunny said . “This…means…war”

I will mobilize with the heat of a thousand suns against Obama. Now and forever. This is worst than caving. It is 100% kabuki bullshit!!!!

This is what he and the beltway village fuckers wanted.

Tipping Fucking Point. Let’s fucking roll. Where do we sing up to primary his Corporate-bought-Goldman-Sachs-ball-licking-WALL_street-CEO’s-are-savy-busnissmen-sellout!

Yes we can, kick his appeasing ass to the curb.

You cave on everything…War-Walll-Street-BP-Corporations.?

Well the you Go down in history as a primaried loser.

What about the increased taxes on Social Security recipients, 10% on Medicaid and NO COLA in the past 2 years. Moreover, those with small pensions will likely see a hike as I don’t believe they are covered under any pay-roll tax.

Give the money to the rich, and for 13 months to the unemployed.

Deficit spending is alive an well for the rich! I would not care so much if they DID ANYTHING for the economy. They are takers and hoarders. They don’t care about Americans who are poor or who make so little they are homeless, yet work full-time. They are all Scrooge’s, as are Republicans.

You know that in 6 months the attack on the “entitlements” will begin again. I believe that’s what this is all about.
I had to eat some yogurt, my stomach was flipping around so much

This week, the president is likely going to agree to a massive deficit spending deal to inject money into the economy

I haven’t heard much about this. Do we have any idea what the package is going to look like? Are we talking QEIII or TARPII? Or something more along the lines of what Bush did in cutting taxpayers a check?

Who was that sharp woman on the PBS Newshour talking
about tax cuts and the Korea trade pact?
She stayed on message, so couldn’t have been a Democrat.

Man, does c.thomas mentor this guy weekly ?

Seems like the c.t. playbook.

I believe that Lew and Tim Geithner were in charge of negotiations…You know Timmeh Geithner the man that offered 100 cents on the dollar to AIG counterparties who had already agreed to take haircuts during that whole debacle. Yeah…color me surprised, but even I never thought the deal would be THIS bad.

Let’s hope the Dems in Congress are smarter than the republicans who are running the WH. (Ok maybe someone like Sanders will stop this nonsense).

It’s not a messaging problem or an Obama problem at all. The simple fact is the majority of voters in this country are dumb rednecks that can’t even understand how an airplane flies or a car runs, much less how our economy or government works. How about let’s put the blame where it belongs. Those that know better but don’t vote are part of the problem too.

x2

(Chart)

http://realchangeorfalsehope.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/economic-benefits1.jpg?w=460&h=437

I’m surprised there is not more on this “deal.”

This deal has been somewhat inevitable for the last three months, ever since the Democrats could get no traction on “tax cuts for the rich” in September. They could have saved everyone a lot of uncertainly, consternation, teeth-gnashing, etc. by doing it 3 months ago. Also, saving much time and attention for other issues.

When you get licked, you need to put it behind you and get on with life.

Many will be unhappy with the deal. But, I wouldn’t be too hard on Obama. It is not ALL his fault. Pelosi and Reid could have brought this up and acted on it months and months ago. Because they didn’t, both them and Obama were left in a no win position.

It is true that the entire tax cut frame work will likely get renewed in two years again. The same will hold true then as now; you will either have to extend all, or extend none. And, politicians being politicians, they will not extend none, so that leaves only one choice. To extend only for some will require the House passing such a bill with only less than $250,000–that will not happen. They cannot pass a permanent or even temporary extention without Obama. He can’t pass a partial extention by himself either. The only thing they can do alone is nothing, and nothing results in all rates going up–something politicians won’t let happen.

So, say hello to all cuts staying in place for the foreseeable future.

Obamas talking about tough choices to fix the deficit problem.

The tough choices are the super rich having to forgo the gold flakes on their 20,k dollar gourmet icecream after the veal and sushi.

Meanwhile the poor are being told to make stew out of their boots and their babies.

Then Obama has the nerve to say that everyones making a sacrifice…well maybe the rich did sacrifice…their souls.

I do think you ought to cut Obama more slack on this.

I visited the great orange satan for the first time since they joined the veal pen. Comments were 198-2 against Obama and his”deal.

I was shocked,shocked I tell ya*g*

When you get licked, you need to put it behind you and get on with life.

I understand what you’re saying, but this reads like Bobby Knight’s old rape comment

I agree: this is no “compromise”, no forced hand. Obama wants to cut taxes for rich people. They are the ones he cares about.

You said it yourself, Jon: If Obama cared about deficits, he would oppose those cuts. If he cared about spending, he would wind down the war. Either he is a deluded fool who doesn’t know what he’s doing, or he simply values different things than we thought he did.

“Those that know better but don’t vote are part of the problem too.”

Who are they supposed to vote for: the guy in the suit who wants more war, more government power, and more money for the wealthy, or the guy in the suit who wants more war, more government power, and more money for the wealthy?

I think people should vote, but if they don’t see a difference what should we expect them to do?

Exactly. Notice how far to the right even progressive bloggers have moved. There is nothing substantively Keynesian in (1) the tiny stimulative effect of putting a bit more cash in middle class people’s hands (they use it to pay down debt not prime the pump of production) and (2) leaving the wealthy with enormous incomes to spend on not stimulative luxury consumption and (3) borrowing money from the already rich so you can give them interest so you can fund the government. Tax cuts, even middle class ones, are not Keynesian.

If you think there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats then I can’t help you, you have lost your way. One advocates for the rich and powerful, the other advocates for the poor and powerless.

I can’t wait to say bye bye to this moron in 2012. Then he can go back to performing like he did in 2008.

Let’s see if I have this right:

Out of the gate, the R’s let it be known that they won’t approve an extension of the unemployment benefits unless they get their share of the tax cuts (for the wealthiest).

Obama spends weeks negotiating and finally claims a deal is reached – a viable compromise: The R’s get all their tax cuts and unemployment benefits will be extended.

I’m begging someone to tell me I’m wrong.

While the tax cuts for the wealthy are extremely ineffective stimulus, they do have some effect. Extending unemployment benefits will help a lot of people. That along with the Make Work Pay tax credit are both cost effective stimulus.

I don’t think this claim can be made at all without very serious analysis of what the “wealthy” are doing with their money.

The banks are very, very wealthy, and we’ve been throwing money at them, and it’s done exactly fuck and all to stimulate the economy. Instead they’re just doubling down on long-odds on the one hand, and pumping up their ability to do so by exploiting the sure-thing, that is the Dollar carry trade, on the other.

It’s possible that the “wealthy” spend their money on things that hurt the macroeconomy, and as such giving them money is anti-stimulative, not just a little stimulative.

In theory. In practice the Cavocrats insure that Republican ideology and policies rule the day.

I didn’t hear Knight, so I don’t quite get this reference.

It is only meant like, “There comes a point where you recognize you have gone as far as you can and you act on it” Going beyond that point only brings a worse result.

Obama and his bipartisanship fetish are on track for destroying the Democratic Party for a generation and ultimately the country as a whole. Of course the people will vote for Republicans after total disgust with Obama’s failed presidency and the Republicans will then begin the final dismantling of the last vestiges of a civil society. They will administer the coup de grace but Obama put the loaded weapon in their hands.

That “stimulus” is called–having a functioning economy. Unless the poor people of the world are going to start loaning businesses working capital.

Here is what most people do not understand about business.

People do not pay cash on the barrelhead when they buy things, especially business to business. Therefore, there is a lag of time between when you buy the materials or inventory that you are selling. The function of banks is to cover that lag in time. Without that, you would either have to demand all businesses and customers pay in cash, or you could not function. (if you say, well the supplier should give the business terms–that is another way of stating the current way of working–the supplier lets the customer pay some time after getting the goods, so the supplier needs to find a way to pay for HIS materials he needs to get to make the item). IF you demanded all participants must pay in cash, then, you would have to have the entire value of your inventory in “extra” cash before you could operate. Few could ever start a business.

Some people supply this needed money themselves from their personal savings. But, if the business expands, here is the problem:

if your business goes up by 10%, that means you need 10% more money to cover what you have not been paid for.

Thus, you must use your profit to fund your increased inventory or raw materials–leaving not much for you to function on–or use the banks. Without banks, the economy could not function. That is the “stimulus” they provide.

The economy could function at some level without government funding, but couldn’t function much at all without banks.

Extending unemployment benefits is going to piss off the same old people who would never support Obama anyway.

Breaking his oft-repeated promises on the tax cuts is surely going to hurt him with the base.
He had nothing to lose and everything to gain by refusing to compromise on both the extension and the tax cuts but instead gave up without so much as a whimper.

Both the policy and the politics of this are just plain stupid. Obama is not a stupid man so it must mean that for whatever reason, in his quest to please the rich and powerful, he just doesn’t care.

I have to admit that it still amazes me that he so willingly threw away the chance to do great things.

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/27/sports/knight-is-criticized-over-rape-remark.html

Any luck and the Repimplicans will impeach him. Looks like the country can’t afford to keep him as pres.

Here’s the Yahoo lead line for its tax cut deal story:

“Brushing aside Democratic opposition, Obama and GOP leaders hammer out a deal to extend tax cuts…”

Got that! Obama and his buddies, the GOP, make a deal and BRUSH ASIDE Democratic opposition.

….and maybe we could throw our support their way. At least then we’d have some bargaining power in the political game, much like the Tea Partiers.

I now only regret living a red state, where my desire to not vote for BHO in 12 will not really hurt him as my ‘state’ will go against him regardless. It’s called the Electoral College. Can I take comfort in knowing my vote for him didn’t count either?

We need to get a Republican in the WH in 12, and here’s why; At least the surviving Dems MIGHT oppose and stop some of the Republican insanity, whereas they just keep going along with BHO, who is obviously and actively helping the Republican cause.

NoBama in 2012!!

…will impeach him.

Talk of impeachment was all for show. It was election-time theater and has all but died out.

The Repubs have it made. They can get anything they want from Obama and have the best of both worlds where they can take credit for whatever suits them and blame Obama for the rest.

There may be more talk of impeachment when it serves a purpose but it won’t go anywhere.

It’s similar to the Bush era Dem promises to de-fund the war if they got a majority. They worked that shtick until they actually attained a majority and then promptly buried the idea.

This is not at all justifiable. I don’t understand how anyone can argue that at all. The short-term pain of ending the tax cuts and losing the UI benefits would be far less painful than these tax cuts are going to cause.

You realize that you’re lecturing about “what most people don’t understand about business” to someone who owns a very successful business and technology strategy consulting company that has weathered the economic train-wreck, has worked with a wide variety of CEO’s and CFO’s, and specifically focuses on startups and mid-tier enterprises that have outgrown their britches… right?

Inventory management, internal accounting, e-commerce, operating infrastructure, etc.

The banks aren’t lending to small business, and historically the interesting money comes from VC, not from traditional commercial lending operations. So, the current “stimulus” is failing to meet it’s supposed purpose, and even if it were, it wouldn’t be doing much of anything in the way of promoting entrepreneurship.

Sanders did say he would do “whatever he can do” to stop it. I hope he would include the filibuster in his “can do” list, because I think that’s the only thing that has a ghost of a chance of stopping it.

Harry Reid won’t stop it – he’s hungry to kiss the Mitch McConnell’s ring.
Nancy Pelosi? Maybe? Maybe she’ll pull a rabbit out of her hat? I’m not counting on it, though. She seems more likely to do some horse trading, knowing that this is the last chance she has to get anything before the Republicans take control in the House.

are you sure it’s Mitch McConnell’s ring that Reid wants to kiss?

In the kabuki that is Washington President Origami reigns supreme.

Well, I was being slightly hyperbolic. I could never pull a Republican lever, but I’m serious about NOT pulling BHOs.
Really, could McCrazy have been any worse?

Mr. FIRED UP!!! READY TO GO!!! is falling like a rock

1st this was suppose to be some great KABUKI!!!

Obama held the un-employment benefits hostage, so he could secure tax cuts for the ultra rich. (the tax issue would have helped DEMS in the 2010 mid-terms, this tax debate should have happen in october, this is what a smart democratic president would have done.)

Mr. FIRED UP!!! READY TO GO!!!
Just last week Obama froze federal pay

How many democrats in congress, are going to go back to their districts and tell their federal workers, they had to sacrifice for the ULTRA RICH???

can we assume that FEDERAL WORKERS are going to BE FIRED UP and READY BEAT SOMEBODY BUTT

laughing!!!

I self moderated. That’s why there was a grammar error in it. :)

We would have been better off with McCain/Palin. Stuff like this would have never gotten off the ground. The Dems would be screaming like their underpants were on fire.

if your business goes up by 10%, that means you need 10% more money to cover what you have not been paid for.

Only if you scrape out every penny of profit. Most businesspeople would be thrilled with 10% increases, and would not only take steps to promote that, but plan for it. I was horrified when things hit the skids and companies in business for DECADES were freaking out because they couldn’t borrow to meet PAYROLL, for fuck’s sake, like it was a surprise. Sales weren’t down, they just kept zero cash on hand.

It looks like DDay has a new post on this topic up top.

There is no reason for the Democratic Party to continue to exist if it lets the wealthy control our tax policy.

Wow. That’s plain speech. Well said.

watertiger is upstairs!
Late Night: Dumb, All Ye Faithful

(1) the tiny stimulative effect of putting a bit more cash in middle class

Homeopathic Keynesianism, and when it fails to move unemployment more than a hair, the Republican can blame the failure of “yet another stimulus package”.

I disagree about tax cuts never being Keynesianism. If the govt spends, say, $120 billion it was going to anyway but is temporarily not collecting taxes for that amount, then the $120 billion in spending is boosting aggregate demand without having to take a like amount out of the economy. The problem is that the hole is so deep (there’s a trillion plus output gap). Once again, the White House is trying to put out a forest fire with a garden hose. Like they said in Jaws, we’re going to need a bigger boat.

Perhaps a new approach;
We don’t want SocSec, health care, clean enviro
We do want unfair wages, tax cuts for bazzionaires, please torture me, etc. .

Huh from two days ago?? And with 152 comments already..

By: watertiger Monday December 6, 2010 8:00 pm

It wouldn’t be the Yuletide season in the Roman Empire America without the usual Promenade of Stupids’ traditional, breathless bleating about the imminent and untimely demise of Christianity: