Reply #25: Yes he did. He could have allowed them to expire which means the taxes really went up

[TheKentuckian]

then had targeted relief proposed which would have truly decoupled the brackets and prevented Republicans and Third Way fuckheads from hiding behind principle or going for the whole ball of wax.

We never cut off the line of retreat for them. We failed to force them to vote against "middle class" cuts because they could always argue they were opposing any tax increases for anyone. That option was never removed and they instead were asked if they'd be willing to vote for a package without breaks for the upper crusts and then how about we exclude millionaires?

They can politically afford to say no to those because they can still just be against all increases. To move them you had to risk them saying no to "middle class" relief and EVERYONE'S rate going up.

DINOcraps were straight up too stupid, weak, complicit, or whatever to say Bush's tax cuts expired as designed, we proposed relief for working and poor families, and these fuckhead toadies of the wealthy told hardworking Americans to go to hell, IF the pukes failed to vote for the bill.

We are risk adverse and likely complicit in a game.

Clean bills are hard to spin, especially in light of reality rather than a hypothetical.