Don't start hiring yet, because The One is not through raising taxes yet.
Some Democrats, too, turned Sunday to questioning Obama's negotiating skills -- asking if he could have avoided the current crisis altogether and maintained a stronger political position. Obama, after all, could have accepted earlier GOP plans that included additional tax revenue -- including one that he was negotiating with Boehner. The speaker, who seemed willing to allow $800 billion in additional revenue, walked out of the talks when Obama asked for more.Overplayed that hand, didn't he?
| Sucking up to the hard Left. Lot of good that will do him. |
| It was the only |
| "Catering to party extremists" - something the pundits will fail to mention because it's the wrong party. |
| It's good to cater to the extremists of the left, and bad to cater to the 40% of the country that is conservative. Ev'ryone knows that... |
But for a White House eager to improve its standing with centrist independents who have been fleeing Obama, even a losing deal can be a winning strategy.
Obama's big compromise on the debt-ceiling deal was agreeing to a "trigger" forcing across-the-board spending cuts -- including to Medicare and defense -- should the committee process not work.
Punted to yet another bi-partisan committee who can recommend raising revenue.
Many Democrats will be relieved to learn that the automatic cuts would not apply to Medicaid, Social Security and certain programs for low-income families. But liberals had hoped the trigger would include taxes.
| I'd prefer manadatory resignations of all involved, but that's just me. |
Scorched earth, Barry? Either that, or "We Won II -- Get Over It Again"
Even an apparent capitulation by Obama helps present him to voters as a reasonable compromiser doing battle against rigid ideologues, his aides say.
Too bad he didn't compromise last week; he'd of had $800 billion more to spread around.
"In the short term, everyone suffers politically," Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said in a recent interview. "In the long term, I think the Republicans have done terrible damage to their brand. Because now they're thoroughly defined by their most strident voices."
Like Nancy Pelosi.
Obama and his aides insisted Sunday that the president has not given up his fight on taxes.
Oh goody.
The creation in the agreement of a bipartisan committee that will recommend the bulk of the deficit reduction later this year gives the president more chances to apply public pressure for tax increases on the wealthy. "Over the next few months, I'll continue to make a detailed case to these lawmakers about why I believe a balanced approach is necessary to finish the job," the president said Sunday.
I thought he didn't want any halfway measures? He was going to veto anything else? Oh, well, the WaPo already forgot that.