FYI: The WH wanted Cong Dems to vote on extending the middle class cuts before the election

[Pirate Smile]

Greg Sargent:

Democratic staffers on the Hill come to terms with the fact that punting on the tax cut vote before the elections was a huge blunder.

Historical footnote: The White House wanted Congressional Dems to vote on extending the middle class cuts before the election, on the grounds that it was good politics. But Dem leaders balked. Now we see who was right.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/happy_hour_roundup_127.html

[dchill]

1. "huge blunder"

Duh!

[movonne]

8. sometimes I wonder hugh blunder or a planned blunder...it is always

about elections not what is good for the people..

[DrToast]

2. Yes, it's ridiculous that they couldn't see this coming when it was so obvious.*

*

[ljm2002]

3. Points to the President on that one, for sure...

...and I would say that the Congressional Democrats deserved the stomping they got, except that it affects not just them but all of us.

On the other hand, I wonder why President Obama seems to be projecting weakness on the issue now? We still have a lame duck session and could use reconciliation to push it through.

[DrToast]

4. Can we use reconcliation?

I thought you need to put that in the budget ahead of time.

If we can use it, I don't know why we're not talking about it.

I know it wouldn't be permanent, but it would be a way to decouple the two tax plans. Let the rates increase for income above $250K and extend them temporarily for them below that amount.

[ljm2002]

6. I thought the requirement for using reconciliation...

...was that the bill be related to the budget. Obviously tax questions are related to the budget, so that would imply that yes we can use it.

OTOH I am not conversant with the detailed rules that are used by Congress to pass bills, so I could be wrong on this.

[phleshdef]

7. Reconciliation can only be used once per year.

[movonne]

9. I'm not sure Obama has much choice...I see what the media does

to him...I see our own dems turning on us...he is in an almost impossible place...I wish he would fuck the 2012 election and do what has to be done and what he can do as president and not need congress...he should let the tax cut expire and show that it is the repugs holding up the works and that is why they got their taxes raised...

[Pirate Smile]

10. We don't have the votes to pass it the way President Obama and most Dems want it.

We can't use Reconciliation. If we could, this would be easy.

Some of the moderate Democrats want to extend the tax cuts for the top 2%.

We don't have the votes in the Senate but people want to blame Obama instead of dealing with that fact or focusing their energy on the Senate and getting those votes. Another problem is that we need a few Republican votes and that isn't going to happen.

We are essentially down to letting them all expire or temporarily extending all of them.

My bet is all will get extending because President Obama isn't going to let the tax cuts expire for the people making less then $250,000 - and he'll be excoriated for doing that but he would also get excoriated if he let them expire.

[DURHAM D]

5. I think Greg is making stuff up.

He links to an article at TPM that doesn't indicate that the WH and Dem leadership were in disagreement at all.

"In any event, the White House and the Democratic congressional leadership made a terrible political mistake by avoiding a fight with the Republicans on this issue before the election, when it could have clearly demonstrated the hypocrisy of the GOP's constant harping about deficits, as well as their most critical concern: the "plight" of the poor rich people."

[Pirate Smile]

11. I remember this from back when it happened. I can't google and search for it right now. I think

Greg remembers it from back then too. I probably read it on his blog back in September. The Congresscritters with moderate to upscale districts & states were scared of the ads that would be run against them if they voted for something that kept tax cuts for 98% of the public and not that other 2%.

[Pirate Smile]

12. OK - I found this one: Senate Dems Ready To Shelve Tax Cut Vote

Senate Dems Ready To Shelve Tax Cut Vote

A senior Senate Democratic aide told TPM today there won't be a vote on extending the Bush tax cuts in the upper chamber before the November election, a blow to party leaders and President Obama who believed this would have been a winning issue.

It's also a signal that the House won't take action -- though nothing has been decided for certain, since leaders there have said all along they are waiting for the Senate.

"Absent a stunning turn of events, we're not going to do tax cuts before the election," the aide told TPM.

The aide said it's already a winning message without a vote since Obama and Democrats have framed the debate as the Republicans being for the rich and Democrats wanting to help the middle class. Others have made similar arguments, but several lawmakers have said they think a vote is the only way to score a political victory. The senior aide doesn't think so.

"We have a winning message now, why muddy it up with a failed vote, because, of course, Republicans are going to block everything," the aide said.

Another Democratic Senate source hesitant to even discuss the inner-workings of the caucus said it's the senators who are facing tough reelection bids this fall who have been driving the discussions. Senators are huddling today for a caucus, but multiple sources we spoke with believe the vote is scrapped.

Aides for two senators in tough bids have suggested they would take the plunge and vote before the election, but they'd prefer to vote if it means the tax cuts extension could actually be passed. And that's not counting the conservative Democrats who disagree with the majority of the caucus about where the threshold should be -- and lean toward a higher than $250,000 in income definition of the middle class.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/senate-dems-ready-to-shelve-tax-cut-vote-1.php

[tritsofme]

13. Good politics or not, the main reason there was no vote in the House was because

the Leadership didn't think they could prevail with a bill that let upper class tax cuts expire. More than 40 House Democrats had signed a letter saying they wanted a bill that extended all of the tax cuts. There obviously weren't 60 votes in the Senate regardless.

It would have been disastrous for Republicans to win a floor vote in the House on the tax cut issue before the election. They are doing a bit of a rewrite as far as history is concerned.

[Clio the Leo]

14. Didn't have the votes then .... doesn't have it now.

Unless we can somehow get half of DU to take over Congress before 1/1/11, it isn't happenin.

[Pirate Smile]

15. I know yet somehow this is a huge Obama failure. It is the usual - not the votes in Congress.

They have to govern in reality and they aren't going to let taxes go up on 98% of the people while the economy still sucks.

So people can gnash their teeth and proclaim they've been betrayed because getting the expiration of the top 2% isn't more important to him then getting the extention for the other 98%.

[Clio the Leo]

16. I've got an article a'commin....

.... that I dont THINK has been posted already.

Just as soon as I finish my tomato soup. :)

[Pirate Smile]

17. Awesome.

Enjoy your soup ... but don't take too long. :)