Bam: Pass tax cut or face double-dip

John Thune: Better Tax Cut Deal For Republicans 'Not Likely To Happen' (VIDEO)
South Dakota Senator and potential Presidential Candidate John Thune suggested Wednesday that his fellow conservative heavyweights Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Sarah Palin shouldn't expect to be able to craft better Tax Cut bargain for the GOP considering the current Makeup of Congress and the White House. DeMint and Palin have both announced their opposition to the current deal as drawn out by Obama this week, because they believe the minimal increases to the death tax and the two-year extens...

Tax fight puts Schumer at odds with Obama
President Obama is getting along better than ever with Capitol Hill Republicans. But his relationship with Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer has hit a rough patch. This Story House Democrats vow to block tax measure Tax fight puts Schumer at odds with Obama Max Baucus, the Democrats' dud Poll: What's the greatest benefit for Obama's in supporting the extension of Bush Tax Cuts? Graphic: What the tax extension means for you Summers Says Economy Worse Off Without Tax Compromise View All Items ...

Guest Post: The Blame Game: The White House vs. House Democrats
Today's guest post comes from none other than Big Brother All-My-Tee himself, Rippa, who blogs at The Intersection of Madness & Reality. Rippa's known around the blogosphere for stirring up a good debate so drop your 2 cents in the comments below as we discuss the latest debacle between the White House and the Democrats: So now everyone has taken lead from Obama's recent Press Conference chastisement of his fellow republi... oops, I mean democrats, Liberals, and or Progressives alike. Yes, w...

Paul Krugman: Obamas Hostage Deal
Obama needs to understand that "concerns about the tax deal reflect realism, not purism": Obama’s Hostage Deal, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: I’ve spent the past couple of days trying to make my peace with the Obama-McConnell tax-cut deal. President Obama did, after all, extract more concessions than most of us expected. Yet I remain deeply uneasy... Obama has bought the release of some hostages only by providing the G.O.P. with new hostages. About the deal: Republicans ...

Dems play fiscal chicken
The behavior of Liberal Democrats in the U.S. House is, well, nothing short of astonishing. Yesterday they were in full-throated revolt against the Tax Cut Compromise crafted by a Democratic president. Barack Obama, whose political survival instincts seem to be intact, agreed to a two-year extension of all the Bush era tax cuts, a reasonable extension of the Estate Tax that exempts estates under the $5 million mark, getting in return a 13-month extension on Unemployment Benefits and a cut i...

Senate reworks tax bill; House defies president
WASHINGTON — The Senate opened debate late Thursday on a reworked tax package that would add incentives for Renewable Energy, which many Democrats have demanded, but leave intact the core elements of a deal negotiated by the Obama Administration and Republicans. As the Senate steamed toward a Monday vote on the package, House Democrats were in open revolt. Amid chants of "Just say no," they agreed overwhelmingly during a private meeting Thursday to block the measure from going to the Hou...

HuffPost TV: Howard Fineman On The Tax-Cut Revolt Among House Dems (VIDEO)
HuffPost's Howard Fineman appeared on MSNBC's "Countdown" Thursday night to discuss the revolt among House Democrats against the White House over President Barack Obama's tax-cut Compromise with Republicans. "They're angry. They feel ignored, which they were," Fineman told host Keith Olbermann. "I just think the White House has been focused for the last two years primarily on the Senate ... and they took their eye off the ball, in the case of the House." WATCH: Visit msnbc.com for breaking ne...

Democrat Lawmaker Says " f--- the president As Anger Spills Over in House Democrat Caucus Meeting
Profanity, Anger Spill Over in House Democratic Caucus Meeting By Anna Palmer Roll Call Staff The frustration with President Barack Obama over his Tax Cut Compromise was palpable and even profane at Thursday’s House Democratic Caucus meeting. One unidentified lawmaker went so far as to mutter “f--- the president” while Rep. Shelley Berkley was defending the package the president negotiated with Republicans. Berkley confirmed the incident, although she declined to name the specific lawma

How the World Works: The economics of tax-cut fear-mongering
Despite a full-court press from the White House warning that the U.S. might slip into a "double-dip" Recession if congressional Democrats reject Obama's tax-cut deal, the House Democratic Caucus voted against bringing the package up for a vote on Thursday morning. Judging the significance of the vote is tricky. According to ABC's Rick Klein, the mastermind of the maneuver, Rep. Peter Defazio, D.-Ore., the vote rejecting the deal "was nearly unanimous." Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi declared ...

Dem Rep. Dan Boren Blames Speaker Pelosi For Holding Tax Cuts Hostage
Democratic Representative Dan Boren (D-OK) blamed Democrats, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi by name, for holding the Tax Cuts hostage and not bringing the Bipartisan package to the House floor for a vote. Greta Van Susteren: Why isn’t it being brought to the floor? Who’s not bringing it to the floor? Rep. Boren : The Speaker. The Speaker agreed. There was a motion by one of the members of the Caucus today to say let’s put this off. Let’s not do this package that the White House and Sena

House Democrats vow to block tax measure
The Senate opened debate late Thursday on a reworked tax package that would add incentives for Renewable Energy, which many Democrats have demanded, but leave intact the core elements of a deal negotiated by the White House and Republicans, including a revived inheritance tax that has outraged liberal lawmakers. This Story House Democrats vow to block tax measure Tax fight puts Schumer at odds with Obama Max Baucus, the Democrats' dud Poll: What's the greatest benefit for Obama's in supportin...

Larry Summers says tax cut deal must pass soon to avoid 'double dip'
Top White House economic adviser Larry Summers warned of a "Double-Dip Recession" if Congress doesn't pass President Obama's Tax Cut agreement soon. "If they do not pass this in the next couple of weeks, it will materially increase the risk of The Economy stalling out and that we would have a double-dip," Summers told reporters at a briefing at the White House on Wednesday afternoon. A "Double Dip" is the term used for a cycle that includes a Recession, then months of Economic Growth followed ...

President Obama blinked
Are we being led by a brilliant incompetent? …or is our President being advised by foxes in the hen house.  President Obama has  a solid record of drawing a line in the sand only to scuff it away before the opposition can make him blink. It is a record of political weakness that continuously undermines the Democratic Base. Most recently, President Obama started out speaking strongly in favor of economic stimulus and finished by freezing the wages and benefits of federal workers, ...

House Dems bribed to silence on tax bill?
Allahpundit calls House Democrats “a gang of cheap losers” for folding like this, and it’s hard to disagree: apparently, all that Rhetoric about Tax Cuts for the rich can easily be trumped with an additional Ethanol subsidy.  To which I say, drink deep: because in a world where Al Cubslayer Gore is talking about ending that kind of pork, the odds that it’s going to get renewed by the House next year is dropping precipitously. Also, out of curiosity: is there anything t...

Obama's NPR Interview Dec. 9
Obama's calling the Democrats bluff because clearly they dropped the ball on the Tax Cuts, unable to come up with a unified stance. Obama had to step in and be the grown up. As usual. Now Democrats are fussing because they don't like the grown-up Compromise. ...

Senate to Consider Tax-Cut Bill That Would Add $857 Billion to U.S. Debt
Senate leaders released an agreement crafted by the White House and Republicans to sustain Bush-era tax rates through 2012, set the Estate Tax at the lowest rate in 80 years, extend jobless aid and cut payroll taxes by 2 percentage points....

DEM REP BLAMES SPEAKER PELOSI For Holding Tax Cuts Hostage (Video)
Oh my… Speaker Pelosi won’t like this. She won’t like this one bit. Democratic Representative Dan Boren (D-OK) blamed Democrats, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi by name, for holding the Tax Cuts hostage and not bringing the Bipartisan package to the House floor for a vote. He better bring a Bodyguard to the next Caucus meeting. Greta Van Susteren: Why isn’t it being brought to the floor? Who’s not bringing it to the floor? Rep. Boren: The Speaker. The Speaker agreed. Ther...

The rich can afford it; can we?
Few displays of phony generosity and bogus earnestness are more irritating than watching a stinking rich tycoon advocating that others shell out more in taxes. "People at the high end, people like myself, should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it," explained Warren Buffett, who must be aware that "people like him" number somewhere in the low single digits. But, please, go for it, Mojambo. Hand it over if you're feeling compelled. And if your "please-tax-me- m...

9/11 responders should not be victims of political games
Partisan politics are bound to happen. Democrats and Republicans, especially today, play political points games due to the fact that there are enough vocal Liberals and Conservatives to dictate "a necessity" for it. It is unfortunate, but tough to fight. That is why there is a need for Compromise many times because when two parties continue to move further apart; there becomes less and less areas of agreement. Democrats and Republicans will always have differences on taxes; benefits for the sick...

Charles Krauthammer - Swindle of the year
Barack Obama won the great tax-cut showdown of 2010 - and House Democrats don't have a clue that he did. In the deal struck this week, the president negotiated the biggest stimulus in American history, larger than his $814 billion 2009 stimulus package. It will pump a Trillion borrowed Chinese dollars into the U.S. economy over the next two years - which just happen to be the two years of the run-up to the next Presidential Election. This is a defeat? This Story Swindle of the year Democrats ...

Let the tax cuts go and you actually stick it to the top for real.
By: Daniel Becker (DOLB) On Countdown (12/9/10), Keith had on Thomas Buffenbarger, president of the International Machinist Union. It was a chance for an “I told you so moment”in that Mr. Buffenbarger noted while campaigning for Secretary Clinton that President Obama would not be a fighter. Go watch the episode. I made my position on of Obama clear after the 60 Minutes interview. Mr. Buffenbarger's comments only reinforces my position as to understanding President Obama as does Oba...

Obama and Bill Clinton to Meet
Bill Clinton in Manila last month. The latest on President Obama, the new Congress and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion. WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton is to meet on Friday with President Obama at the White House for a post-election conversation about moving the agenda forward in a new political environment, a senior Democrat told of the meeting said. The meeting will be the first between the two men since the Midterm Elections, when voter...

Tester Thursday
Don't panic. There is no intention of making this a weekly feature. ;-) It would appear that our junior Senator has been on mind of the Montana online a whole lot here of late. For myself, it began with Pogie's post showing Jon favorably positioned heading into the 2012 election cycle. It seems the man is somewhat popular. Tester posts a 50-40 job performance mark, putting him in the top ten among the senators PPP has measured this year. That is particularly impressive, considering tha...

Upper Midwestern Republicans Reach Five-Decade High in State House Seats
After the 2010 election, GOP holds 311 of 497 lower chamber seats in IA, MN, ND, SD, and WI (62.2 percent) - the highest level since 1968 election (68.0 percent) The Election of 2010 did not simply see Upper Midwestern Republicans decisively take back three lower state legislative chambers (in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) - they also built up a partisan advantage across the region not realized in more than 40 years. A Smart Politics study of Upper Midwestern historical election returns fin...

Racial progress in Georgia
Two African-American Democrats on Thursday announced that they were joining the Republican Party. Hall County Commissioner Ashley Bell and former state Executive Committee member Andre Walker said the Democratic Party had grown too liberal and they are finding a new home with the Republicans. It takes courage to leave the political party one inherits, especially in one's hometown. I know, because I lacked the courage to do so until I moved from the Palmetto State to the Peach State. It takes eve...