Better late than never....

[Dog Gone at Penigma]

cross posted from penigma.blogspot.com:

About Damn Time!
Obama should never have extended the Bush Tax Cuts LAST TIME.

I don't give a rip if this is partisan any more; it is the CORRECT thing to do. If it has to be by steamrolling Republicans, I'd rather it were not that way, but so be it.

THIS is what the country needs; enacting the Bush Tax Cuts in the first place has been a huge part of the problem we're in now.

White House: Obama will veto any bill extending tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 - @AP

[Tansy_Gold]

1. I do hope you're not spamming

Obama should never have extended the boooosh tax cuts the FIRST time.

And most of us in this group are well aware of it and have been for, oh, about four years.

You might want to take a stroll down our memory lane:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=7922946

And maybe then you'll know why a few of us aren't holding our breath.

[Dog Gone at Penigma]

2. Maybe finally

He's in a different position now.

He's got health care passed. Democrats won the popular vote for the house as well as gaining senate seats back.

I don't think Obama really cares too much about Bush's legacy, he's looking hard now at his own.

But most of all, I think he's simply given up the idea of giving away too much in these negotiations. It would be nice if it is true that Obama's feelings were really offended by Romney's lies about the auto industry.......enough to get tough in response.

Not that much longer to wait to see if he's found his nerve for this or not.

[Tansy_Gold]

3. Oh, he's definitely in a different position.

In 2008, Obama had a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate. By 2010, he had lost the House and several Senate seats. His Affordable Healthcare Act was a watered down version that appeased the right and barely kept his promise to do . . . . something.

Of course, he faced the specter of re-election, too.

So now he's won re-election and can govern as a lame duck, maybe pushing through some more progressive legislation, but he has to do it with a House that is still GOP and even more stubborn than ever. And he has to contend with the 2014 elections, too, which could shift the balance in the House back to the Dems or the Senate back to the GOP or leave everything as is.

I think you're looking at things much too simply and not taking into consideration all the various major factors that impact any of these decisions, to say nothing of the innumerable smaller factors. To many of us who are regulars in the Economy group, Mr. Obama did not demonstrate in his first term that he was as good a president as he had been a candidate. We watched all the GOP obstructionist tactics and we waited for the president to take command of the situation and LEAD.

We're still waiting.

[mother earth]

4. God help us all if he bargains this time, he'd better weaponize the budget & let the military

complex get cut 50% down the line if they fail to agree to an end, for once and for all. Guaranteed, all hell will break loose if there remains the GOP obstructionist stranglehold & no big club to slam it down.

We'll know relatively soon since, what...this goes down before January?

[Dog Gone at Penigma]

5. I was disappointed too

but I am hoping something changed, a tipping point in his willingness to put up with the Republicans.

His lack of support from the hedge funders and other wall street financial sector may mean something as well.

This is the first time he indicated publicly this level of opposition. The economy is in a better place, and I think he realized how many people this time around were supporting him on raising taxes on the rich.

The Dems won the popular vote for the house but lost on gerrymandering - I think if he doesn't show some backbone he has no hope of winning the house for his final two years. Lame duck status can be a strength, as well as a weakness.