This Obama quote should be carved in stone somewhere

[Marr]

54. You do realize those cuts were set to expire, right?

He didn't need dictatorial powers. All he had to do was sit on his hands-- but he chose to 'negotiate' instead.

The Obama Administration's public argument for extending those tax cuts was that they had no choice, because the mean old Republicans were holding unemployment benefits hostage.

The problem is that the Republicans had *repeatedly* backed down from that fight, because it was a huge loser for them at the polls. He traded the cow for magic beans. Only a fool could've thought that was a reasonable deal, and Obama is no fool.

Our political establishment, as a whole, wanted to extend those tax cuts, and the 'negotiations' were only about setting up political cover.

Please-- don't pretend that people who don't buy that bullshit just aren't as informed as you. It's the people making polyanna civics class arguments that seem sadly naive at this point.