2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Why Obama is the worst negotiator ever: He puts artificial constraints on himself [View all]BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)Last edited Wed Dec 12, 2012, 04:06 PM - Edit history (1)
You notice he almost never talks about the dividend treatment or the capital gains rate, both of which are huge factors in how the rich avoid paying their fair share. And other than some very vague rhetoric during the campaign, there is no serious talk of actually ending their most abusive tax evasion schemes. It just isn't Obama's priority. He put a stake in the ground that says "rates" have to go up. That isn't because he cares what the rate is. That is because he is trying to break Grover's stranglehold. He wants to force Republicans to vote for SOME clear-cut tax rate increase just to prove beyond any dounbt that there is no longer any pledge with Grover still in force. That's the ONLY reason he is even talking about the tax rate, and he'll give away 75% of the rate as long as the GOP is forced to vote for an actual rate increase on the rich.
Cynical? Yeah, but that's the way it is.
If you dig into his budget, there are other things he cares more about and we'll see how much of that he gets. The key one is the stimulus package. Even though he foolishly gave away 40% of the original stimulus to the GOP demands for tax cuts -- and still got ZERO REPUBLICAN VOTES in the House and only THREE REPUBLICAN VOTES in the Senate -- the other 60% of the stimulus was the basis for a very large amount of progressive economic development. He needs another stash of money to continue that progress.