Barack Obama
President Obama compromised, and guess what?
Democrats are pissed.
It’s all over the blogs, all over the papers, and I think I can even hear Pelosi, Reid and Feinstein whining through my exposed-brick wall at home on Capitol Hill.
Even Howard Fineman is having a bit of a pity party on Huffington Post. The tragedy, apparently, is that the Bush tax-cuts are a win-win no matter what happens economically. Fineman writes,
“Consider this: if the economy improves over the next two years, it will in part be ‘because’ of the Bush tax cuts! And if it doesn’t, it will be because of the Bush tax cuts that became the Obama tax cuts!”
Shame on President Bush for getting the tax-cuts right.
The White House reaction
On Tuesday, the president said to Democrats that this was “a long game, not a short game.” And to Republicans, he said that he was looking forward to working on an agreement.
It’s funny how the White House is framing this extremely Democrat-opposed and Republican-beloved deal.
Here, below, please read how today’s Washington Post frames the White House reaction. (Note that I could not help but bold a few of the juciest points – at least from the perspecitive of a fiscally-conservative but socially-open mind.)
“The mood was cheery at the White House as administration officials celebrated a package that, if approved by Congress, would provide a far bigger jolt to the economy than anyone had expected. While lamenting the need to compromise on the Bush tax cuts and particularly on a revived estate tax, administration officials said the package would inject an extra $300 billion into the economy next year alone.
“Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, predicted that the package would accelerate economic growth, adding more than 1.6 million jobs next year and driving unemployment down to 8.5 percent by the end of 2011.
“Buyers of U.S. government debt were less pleased with the prospect of additional borrowing: The interest rate the government must pay to borrow money for 10 years rose 0.2 percentage points to 3.1 percent, a rate that, if it persists, could reduce the stimulative effects of the tax cuts.
“But White House economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers said that ‘the first priority for addressing the budget deficit has to be getting the economy growing again at a rapid rate.’ The tax deal, he said, ‘offers the best prospect that was available for achieving the kind of escape velocity that we’ve been seeking for the past two years.'”
An honest reaction
To everyone who is concerned about the U.S. economy and somewhat adept politically, I ask you this: If you sincerely want to get the economy rolling, then why not accept compromise and allow the economy to do just that – get rolling?
My fear is that a resistance to compromise by Democrats or Republicans alike in Congress will ultimately force President Obama into a Sisyphus-like political greek tragedy.
The president just pushed a boulder up a mountain. Why, now, let it fall back on him to the further detriment of the U.S. economy?
We’ve now hit a 9.8 percent unemployment rate, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Let the president push the boulder over the peak. Let him embrace what his advisors Zandi and Summers are, in fact, advising – keep taxes low and stimulate the economy.
Let’s get the ball rolling.
Sarah Lenti is the blogger behind NMPolitics.net’s The Savvy. E-mail her at sarah@nmpolitics.net.