Obama On Lessons Learned: I Should Have Started With No Tax Cuts

[Life Long Dem]

Obama had a pretty good come back.

Obama On Lessons Learned: I Should Have Started With No Tax Cuts And Let GOP Take Credit For Them»

At tonight’s White House press conference, NPR’s Mara Liasson asked President Obama what lessons he has learned through the process of negotiating with Republicans over the economic recovery package. Obama explained there’s a lot of people who “sort of want to test the limits of what they can get.”

Reflecting further, Obama reminded the journalists present that the conservatives had originally expressed their approval of Obama’s plan to offer over $300 billion in tax cuts. But over time, they decided not to negotiate in good faith:

They were pleasantly surprised and complimentary about the tax cut that were presented in that framework. Those tax cuts are still in there. I mean, I suppose what I could have done is started off with no tax cuts, knowing that I was going to want some and then let them take credit for all of them. And maybe that’s the lesson I learned.

He added, “People have to break out of some of the ideological rigidity and gridlock that we’ve been carrying around for too long.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/02/09/obama-presser-lessons/

[dascientist]

1. that was indeed funny

[FrenchieCat]

2. I'm glad that the Republicans will NOT get credit for Shit!

Especially the tax cuts that were the centerpiece to his campaign.

[rufus dog]

3. I think that is as close as he will ever come to saying screw you republicans

It was obviously meant to display the childish behavior of the repubs.

[Cha]

7. Imagine them seething

en masse at being outted on tv by the Prez of the USA.

[AtomicKitten]

23. That must be the "iron fist in a velvet glove" thing I've been hearing about.

[sandnsea]

9. He'd have never given them that credit

Way too smart for that.

Frenchie Cat, that was the most brilliant press conference I've ever seen. He hit the right on every angle they need hitting on, especially the FDR stupidity and I hope they hammer on that the next few days. He explained spending in very simple terms and how investing in weatherizing federal buildings, for instance, is simply a smart thing to do. If people watched this, they'll be on board. When they see how badly Republicans have treated him after he went out of his way to be considerate of them, it'll backlash on them. He does this every single time. He lets his opposition make total asses of themselves, really lets them get out there and think they're winning so they pile on even more, then when it's at a crescendo - wham, he lays them out flat.

We just need to help organize and demand Congress put that education and energy spending back in.

[FrenchieCat]

25. You've got it sandnsea!

:patriot:

I'm writing to a lot of folks tonight, and tomorrow night.

[chill_wind]

4. It is still not too late, Mr President.

Or is it?

Thomas B. Edsall
[e-mail] | HuffPost Reporting From DC

The $800 Billion Gamble: Economists Say Stimulus Cuts Could Be "Disastrous"


(...)


"The compromise is worse than the original bill because it is smaller, and the changes appear to have reduced rather than increased the bang-for-buck effectiveness of the bill," said Berkeley economist J. Bradford DeLong, who was a Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary during the Clinton administration. "Ben Nelson and Susan Collins don't appear to have understood what they were doing very well -- the point is to keep lots of extra Americans from being unemployed for the next two years and have them, instead, do useful things for the country. Nelson and Collins, well, it's not clear what their objective is."

Jeffrey D. Sachs, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development at Columbia -- considered one of the world's foremost economists and a leading advocate of "shock therapy" as applied to former Eastern bloc countries -- said that "comparing the House and Senate versions, the Senate version is clearly worse: more tax cuts, less infrastructure, and less in transfers to state and local governments." Instead, Sachs said, "Immediate and sizable spending increases in the stimulus package should be directed to a few areas: significant support for our crisis-ridden state and local governments , especially for health (Medicaid), education, and other urgent public services; income support (unemployment, anti-poverty including food stamps and child nutrition); health care coverage for the uninsured (as well as adequate Medicaid funding mentioned earlier); and a significant multi-year rollout of infrastructure of all sorts (roads, rail, other mass transit, ports, water, energy, broadband, etc.)."

University of Texas economist James Galbraith was more outspoken: "The behavior of the so-called bipartisan group has been outrageous. On the economics, they are pretending to know things they can't possibly know: specifically, (a) how deep and serious the crisis actually is, and (b) what is 'stimulus' and what is not. The reality is, professional economists have no clear idea how bad things can get..... The cutbacks to state aid have every potential of being disastrous. What they really reflect is the indifference of people who represent places like Nebraska and Maine to what goes on in New York or California."

Menzie D. Chinn, professor of Public Affairs and Economics at the University of Wisconsin, said about the Senate bill, "I don't understand the direction of the movement toward cutting spending. Cutting the transfers to the states seems particularly ill-advised, as we have a good feeling that the propensity to spend out these funds will be high and relatively quick."

more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/09/the-800-billion-gamble-ec_n_165146.html

[EraOfResponsibility]

5. OMG who's watching Jon Stewart?

he is KILLING IT

[mikiturner]

6. Is he talking about the Press Conference? nt

[Paulaguyon]

8. That's what Krugman has been saying

Tax cuts provide little to no stimulus to the economy in a time of crisis.

[Thrill]

10. No matter what, in order to pass it. You were going to have to put them in there

to get the 60 votes. Boxer tried to explain this on Rachel's show

[DevonRex]

15. Tax cuts for low nad middle income folks DO provide stimulus. Because we SPEND them.

[kenny blankenship]

11. "Don't negotiate with yourself"

Our President is wise.

[GeorgeGist]

12. Well he could make up for that oversight ...

and end theft-by-profit; the sane solution to what ails the economy.

[amborin]

13. guess he finally read Krugman...such as this blog:

<http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/appeasing-the-centrists/>

[Life Long Dem]

14. That's being on the ball!

It's not the first time I've noticed he's either picked up on something like this or that he thinks alike as some who are on the ball. I saw this a lot during the campaign. What else can you say but that Obama is on the ball?

[amborin]

16. but "you know who" has been saying it in his blogs for over 8 wks

so how is that "on the ball?"


folks have been weeping about it in their blog posts to ykw's blog

ykw not only writes his column, but also writes several short blog posts daily in his blog

for about 8 wks, ykw has been saying the bill has to be huge....etc......

[Life Long Dem]

18. Sorry, I took your post as a compliment to Obama.

And don't feel like arguing with you.

[amborin]

19. i don't feel like arguing either, life is too short

i admire Obama greatly and am so happy he's our President

i want him to be a two-term president, don't you?

the rethugs have been working to obstruct him every step of the way

i think Obama is brilliant but perhaps a bit too idealistic; that's the thing with some academics (and, granted, Obama is not really primarily an academic, but close)----they are idealistic

I think Obama was too idealistic in crafting his version of the stimulus bill

rethugs are treacherous and cunning and evil, there is no such thing as bipartisanship with them

(someone posted on ykw's blog that the evil bush, when launching his tax cuts for the super wealthy, started out with a proposal that was wildly insane....something like, "the super wealthy will never pay any taxes again," kind of thing....and it got bargained down to the despicable tax cuts we are all familiar with....which was proof to me that either bush was a total puppet, or he wasn't as stupid as many charge; rather, he was cunning and treacherous and evil

[Life Long Dem]

24. Thanks for sharing this.

It can be frustrating, but hang in there with Obama. I believe you, and agree with you.

[AtomicKitten]

17. It's hilarious that you think Obama is Krugman's personal hand-puppet.

I think it's awesome that you with a straight face propose crediting Krugman for anything you feel Obama does right, even though Krugman is making a career of lobbing trash at Obama from the sidelines, now blogging his every snarky thought.

You can't get this kind of funny anywhere else but on DU.

[Numba6]

20. Why do Democrats act like they've never bought (or sold) a car in their entire lives?

You don't start off negotiations with the figure you're willing to pay.

[Aloha Spirit]

21. he was kidding.

[incapsulated]

22. I approve this message

I do think he screwed up there.

All I wanted to know was he knew and learned from it.

So I'm quite satisfied. :)