So is the deal President Obama cut on taxes with Senate Republicans a good one? Essentially, the only topic of today's Meet The Press, we'll break it down. But first, again, we have to eviscerate Harold Ford, who was on today's panel, because we're still trying to figure out how he is even a Democrat. He said that President Obama should lean in more for the deal saying it is good. Then he tries to take down Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) saying that the Democrats' views were resoundingly voted down on November 2nd in as much as that taxes should not be raised on anyone. Mr. Ford plays himself off as a Clinton economic Democrat but in reality is way to the right.
Also, with regard to this past midterm election, the Democrats views were not rejected. It's just that their views weren't communicated in an effective way that would rally the base. The Democrats made the mistake in the midterms of trying to go to the center. That's fine for a Presidential election, but in a midterm - you go hard to the base to churn out every vote you can. Independents are unreliable in a midterm election - it's just fact.
With that, there is no way to feel good when hearing the Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee endorse the deal while saying a major portion of it isn't good. To the average American who cares about these things but doesn't have time to research these things more deeply, that rings hollow coming off as a sign of lack of principle.
Is the deal a good one? Contrary to the stupid Mr. Ford would say, no it isn't. The different question is do the Democrats have to make this deal? Yes. NBC White House correspondent, Savannah Guthrie, on the panel, reminded us that the Democrats didn't make it a campaign issue, which some in the caucus wanted to do. But again, the Democrats' failure was that they should have brought this point to bear much before the election. If they had ingrained this notion that to bring spending under control, tax cuts for the rich would have to expire a year ago, then it's possible you could have seen the Tea Party, so strong with Republicans as we know, echoing that message in their own way. This notion of discontinuing the tax cuts for the rich could have evolved into conventional wisdom for when we were at this moment.
Instead, we're at the point where Republicans can protect their interests while the Democrats - center and left - can argue about the wisdom of this compromise amongst themselves because big increases for the middle class are at stake.
When the President, earlier this week, said to the effect that Republicans are taking hostages, that phrase resonated throughout cable news and the opinion columns. Imagine if the Democrats had 6 months to pound away at the Republicans with the soundbite. The outcome would be different.
Mr. Goolsbee did say that he felt 2012 would be a growth year for the U.S. economy, which it would have to be for the President to be reelected, but more importantly, we can not afford a 'lost decade' like the Japanese experienced in the 1990's. But what Mr. Goolsbee is seeing is that by doing this deal, the Republicans' corporate masters will feel more comfortable with the Obama policy direction and start investing money into America again.
Is President Obama, or for that matter former President Clinton, for continued tax cuts for the rich? Of course not, but they both endorsed the deal with Senate Republicans because at this late juncture, they have no choice if they want to save the middle class. What's really appalling is that in the vote last week to continue the tax cuts for the middle class, but suspend them for the wealthiest 2%, 5 Democrats in the Senate voted against the measure. And that's why this deal had to be made.
Now, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, today's ever-optimistic second guest, said we should be encouraged by all of this because at least it is something that it bipartisan. He explained that it better for individuals to be spending money to get the economy going than it is for the government to spend it. That's true, but with 38% of the money, as Congressman Weiner pointed out, going to the top 2% percent, how much is actually going to be spent?
During the panel, Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot pointed out that this deal is simply maintaining the status quo. And the status quo, at this point as we all know, is unacceptable... unsustainable. What Mr. Gigot did not articulate is that the status quo is the Republican agenda. They do not advocate for larger tax reform as he suggested there should be.
Mr. Bloomberg pointed out that we're not investing in basic research and that we need immigrants in this county so that the inventions spawned from the research are invented here in The United States. Does he mean basic research like stem-cell research? He clearly stated that an immigrant attaining an graduate degree should get a green card upon completion and a path to citizenship.
You see where we're going with this. Republicans have lined up staunchly against the Dream Act and they have never been for stem cell research. Oh, how about energy research? Not if it's not done by an oil company. The common sense that Mr. Bloomberg is explaining is frankly not shared by half the people in power.
He also spoke about confidence, and how the lack of it is the single most significant impediment to growth. On all levels, people need to have the confidence to spend. Sadly, the remedies he's suggesting, research and immigration, are opposed on the basis of fear and suspicion, two qualities that never inspire confidence.
Post Note: For the record, we opine that there should be no debate on whether to move forward with stem-cell research. How would medicine have ever advanced if we did not pick apart our own bodies? How many cadavers in the name of medicine? Now, one would say that the embryonic stem cell is not dead and is the essence of life. If it is the essence of life then that makes it all the more important to study it. And it's not dead, it's just a cell frozen, immobile. The 'essence' is a religious argument and is thus a false basis on which to base any biological theory. We're done with the days of amputating limbs to see how they are connected. We're at the cellular/molecular stage now and this research is too vital to ever turn back.
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