So what if the Republican controlled house sends over a lousy tax bill next year?

[boston bean]

Do Democrats still not have a majority in the Senate where the legislation is put through the sausage grinder?

Then don't we have a Democratic President, who could possibly, threaten a veto of any bill that extends the Bush tax cuts to the upper 1% who own 25% of the wealth?

I know this would mean someone would have to take a stand on principle, but it could be done, couldn't it?

You could still, next year, make the Republicans look like greedy uncaring corporate whoremasters who want to withold unemployment insurance and give money to the corporations and their wealthy friend yacht owners and private leer jet flyers.

I believe it is an fight that could be won if one were willing to go to bat for the majority in this country. The majority who does not want to have our money stolen from us via back channels to the wealthiest 1% of this country.

[DrDan]

1. you mean like a bill making permanant tax cuts for the wealthy and getting rid of those pesky

middle-class cuts?

After all, who creates the jobs.

[boston bean]

2. you think the majority in the Senate should roll over for that and the president should too.

come on. It's a worthwhile battle and one that could be won.

I guess what you are saying is that it should continue on as business as usual.

[DrDan]

14. I was agreeing with you that we may soon see a draconian bill from the R's

I think you misread my post

[boston bean]

20. My apologies. I did misunderstand. :-)

[badtoworse]

3. What if they send over the same bill?

There is a good chance that some of the Democratic senators will vote for it. What should Obama do then?

[boston bean]

4. Obama should threaten a veto of any bill that keeps bush's tax cuts for the wealthy in place. nt

[badtoworse]

6. Veto the same bill he negotiated? Just what we need...

...another John Kerry moment

[boston bean]

7. This is exactly why the dem caucus in the house is furious. Obama

took their options to fight this off the table.

That is why Obama owns this.

I hope and pray the house will truly rebel. I doubt they will, but they should.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. "Then don't we have a Democratic President..."?

I don't know. He does have a 'D', but seriously, I don't know where he stands at this point. There is certainly no indication that this administration will fight back on anything. His whole presidency, right from the inauguration, has been about accommodating Republicanism.

[NorthCarolina]

8. There are DLC Dems in the Senate however, and they tend

to vote along Republican lines. While I prefer that the Obama tax deal go down in flames because of the tax cuts for the wealthy, and the purposeful poison pill for Social Security in the form of the payroll tax holiday that it contains, I am also pretty sure that the DLC Dems will enable most GOP efforts in the Senate.

[boston bean]

9. Well, if the real dems are going to be in the minority, they should start acting like it and

block and place holds and do whatever it takes, I guess, just like the minority does now. Then they can really be in charge.

I know that some of the options are not ideal, but if the president threatened a veto it would be a game changer.

And if the Democrats got a message it would also be a game changer.

The problem I keep wrestling with is that because some of the above is not done, I keep coming to the conclusion that the end result and what we have been getting is the plan.

[CanonRay]

10. So veto the damn thing.

This is not rocket science.

[leeroysphitz]

11. The senate will cave and President Obama will cheerfully not veto it. n/t

[mmonk]

12. Obama is disarming resistance under the banner of saving us and compromise.

This will relieve him in many ways of having to fight it with the new congress and "get things done".

[AC_Mem]

13. Perhaps they are testing the waters now

With what Bernie Sanders did yesterday. He was the "sacrificial lamb" in a way; left up there to show America that there are people in Washington who care about the middle to lower class too. In the days to come we will see what kind of an impact that had for Americans. Perhaps this will send the message that we WANT them to fight harder for us and this past election was not about us wanting GOP representation.

I think that January will bring us a completely different democratic mindset and perhaps it took them getting this FURIOUS about such an important issue to get them to stand in solidarity for our benefit. They will need this "fuel" next month when they are met with the crazy wall that is the new GOP congress.

No matter how this ends up, it may have been the best thing that could have happened for us. It may have given them the backbone that we have been begging them to find for the past 6 months.

I think its important to let them know that we support them getting stronger and more united and that we will support them at election time, and then we need to get out there and actually support them for the coming 2012 election. Because if you think 2010 was brutal, we ain't seen nothing yet if we don't get around the corporations being people law.

Annette

[NuttyFluffers]

15. i would orgasm if the democratic senators filibustered rnc bills for 2 years straight.

i could care less if *nothing* the republicans in congress want gets done in the next two years.

yes, virginia, i ain't ready to make nice -- i'm ready to make (political) war. i'm done. time to (metaphorically) rip some republican heads off and place them on pikes around the gate.

done. time to start spreading the pain and panic among all classes. absolutely done. you're either an american willing to share and sacrifice for a common good cause, or you're an un-american piece of sh!t that needs to be horse whipped into obedience.

(love, peace, and light, and all that. O8) )

[badtoworse]

16. Isn't there anything you want to get done in the next congress?

If not, go with your plan and lot's of luck. If you do want to get some things done, you are going to have to negotiate deals that both sides can live with. That means we get some things; we give up some things and they do the same. Without that, nothing will happen and two years of gridlock would be a terrible thing for the country.

That is going to be reality for the next 2 years. You (and many others at DU) need to accept that - it's not going to change.

[socialist_n_TN]

18. There's absolutely NOTHING that I want to be ............

enacted (that I can think of anyway) from this next Congress. EVERY FUCKING REPUBLICAN IDEA IS DOA AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED. Letting Obama rule by executive order is NOT anywhere near ideal, but it's better than enacting ANYTHING that the Republican House will pass.

Filibuster it ALL!

[NuttyFluffers]

24. thank you. i haven't seen or heard of a good republican idea in the past 30 years.

(i'm sure we could go farther back in history, but post-Reagan I am utterly convinced all their ideas have been shit.)

so why on earth would i care to let any of them pass?

:shrug:

[socialist_n_TN]

17. You get 40 REAL Democrats to filibuster...........

the fucking thing.

The Republicans have given us a roadmap to defeat shit we don't like. USE IT!

[boston bean]

19. I agree. Are there 41 of them?

[Laelth]

21. If it's bad, the President can veto it. n/t

-Laelth

[rug]

23. Yes he can.

Will he?

[Better Believe It]

22. The Senate will pass it and the President will sign it after a pr "fight".

[oldlib]

25. It appears that

President Obama is smarter then the rest of us. This enables him to filter all the options and make the best choice for us all. He developed his compromising skills as a junior Senator in the Illinois State Congress as the Republicans had complete control at that time. Hopefully he will realize that compromise at the national level has a far greater consequence and he will come to his senses on his latest proposal.