If Obama keeps his word and elimiates the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy 1% he will win 2012 ...

[LynneSin]

and win it in a landslide.

Sure there are alot of other factors out there that will move the vote count to the left or the right, but I think these giveaways to the wealthy have been pissing the rest of us now since the day Bush spent Clinton's surplus creating them.

I honestly don't think there is one strong candidate on the republican side - 2012 is Obama's to lose. If he caves on these tax cuts he may very well lose it.

We shall see.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Absolutely right!

I truly think he meant it. He went over it several times, and he sounded really firm.

I am greatly heartened by what he said today!

Now, we have to kick Congress' ass to get them off the dime!

[RKP5637]

2. Yep!!! n/t

[abelenkpe]

3. +1 nt. :)

[leftstreet]

4. Why not do it NOW and add it to his List of Accomplishments?

:shrug:

[LynneSin]

5. Because it was already passed & paid for with the current run

Why he kept doing it in the past is beyond me but it'll be interesting to see what happens in the future.

[Recursion]

7. Because it will not pass the House in 2011 or 2012

The House has to initiate all revenue bills, and the House will not initiate, let alone pass, a tax raise. Sorry. Obama's only option at this point is to force the R's into looking like such assholes that they lose the House in the 2012 election. Fortunately he's good at driving people apeshit crazy.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

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[monmouth]

6. Those tax cuts don't happen until after the '12 election....n/t

[Recursion]

8. There won't be a tax increase before the 2012 elections

GOP controls the House. The 2012 campaign will be essentially a referendum on whether people want tax increases or service cuts.

[robinlynne]

9. He just extended them for two years. So the question will be up AFTER the election.

with a republican house.... We had a Dem house when he extended them.....

[LynneSin]

15. They were extending in 2010 right before the election

and setup so they would come up right again before the next election. We vote late 2012

[robinlynne]

17. extended in December of 2010.

[eleny]

21. Wiki: "Signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 17, 2010"

* Introduced in the House as H.R. 4853 by Rep. James Oberstar on March 16, 2010 (in unrelated form); subsequently introduced December 1, 2010 (in this form)<1>
* Passed the Senate on December 15, 2010 (81–19)
* Passed the House on December 16, 2010 (277–148)
* Signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 17, 2010


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Relief,_Unemployment_Insurance_Reauthorization,_and_Job_Creation_Act_of_2010

[robinlynne]

22. ugh.

[EFerrari]

10. He'll run on it but who knows if we'll ever see it.

You're right though, that people care about this one.

[kentuck]

11. That was one of the President's goals for this speech...

in my opinion. He wanted to make it very clear to the Repubs that their taxcuts were going to end. Get used to it.

[mmonk]

13. He already went back on his word when he had the only opportunity.

I don't see what he says now makes a difference. Everything going forward will be interpretation. Events will carry the day (and I don't see them as promising because we haven't absorbed the cuts fully yet). And the Republicans will tell the dumb ass American people that his positions in the speech caused the problem.

[scarletlib]

14. I AGREE

I called the White House to thank him for a great speech and to what he says. Also e-mailed the white house just to make sure the message got through. Let's all show our support by e-mailing, calling etc.

[progressoid]

16. If...

he keeps his word. Wish I could be optimistic, but the history isn't reassuring.

[Drale]

18. Not only will he win

he might set a record for vote percentage. I know theres no politician hall of fame, but I would love to see 70% or more of Americans agree on something for once.

[eridani]

19. Bingo. However, I hope he musters the courage to actually do it..

[OhioChick]

20. Agree 100% n/t

[upi402]

23. He needs to do that and more

The media will smear him even if he walks on water, cures cancer, and establishes world peace. So he better throw us more than a bone.

[andym]

24. Not sure about that

Because the only way he can eliminate the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy is to eliminate the middle class tax cuts too. GOP will not allow these to be separated for both political and ideological reasons.

[Cresent City Kid]

25. It was mentioned above but bears repeating

There will be no bill with the tax hike on the rich for him to sign pre-election. By avoiding the referendum on trickle down in the 2010 election, they have ensured that the 2012 election will be just that. The fact that everyone's tax cut was tied to the one for the rich boxed him in, but the Dems could have and should have played it differently. This has been well documented here.

The most he can do is veto budgets without it. And with the gop willing to let people starve to keep these cuts, a veto threat is a paper tiger. It won't be a law, but we can have the fight and I say bring it on. I may sound pessimistic, and in some ways I am, but I think we can win with the election being a clear choice on trickle down. It doesn't hold up to scrutiny, let's give 'em 2 years worth.

On edit: The theme song should be, "You can get with this, or you can get with that"

[BlueCheese]

26. I don't understand.

Just four months ago, breaking repeated promises, Obama signed a two-year extension of the tax cuts, and tossed in a ridiculously generous estate tax rate too. This despite having big Democratic majorities.

Now he claims he won't let that happen again. Why on earth would anyone believe him now?

[democracy1st]

27. It's election time now all of a sudden he's transforming into a progressive president!

[FLAprogressive]

28. key word is "If"

[Bucky]

30. The key word is "keeps"

Cause the other word is "Obama" and he's got a stick-to-his-guns problem.

[Major Hogwash]

29. Maybe, maybe not! Rick Santorum has just started his own exploratory committee!

And they are exploring to see just how many people are against "man on dog" sex.
And if they find there are enough people who are against it, he may just enter the 2012 presidential campaign -- and then all bets are off!!!

LoL

[Bucky]

31. I personally oppose "man on dog" but I'm more worried about "Republican on me".

[xchrom]

32. even without this speech - i'm pretty certain he's going to win.

he likes to put things out into the future -- and that's fine, but we'll have to see how hard he fights for it then -- kinda like the p.o.

[sendero]

33. I would agree...

. since my own vote depends on this single point.

[opihimoimoi]

34. Obama has had enough of the GOPers radical shit...he won't cave.

[Motown_Johnny]

35. AND... by pushing a bill that extends them for everyone making under $250K/yr

He puts the Repugs in a lose-lose situation


They need to either refuse to cut taxes on everyone else, again, in an election year or they need to do what we tried to do in 2010 and that is a de facto admission that they were wrong to oppose it in 2010.

Maybe we can finally expose the big lie about the (R)s being good with the economy.

[Search4Justice]

36. Exactly!

If he caves, he is toast. I heard enough empty promises last Presidential campaign. I'll believe what I see, not what I'm told.