The Repuke's stimulus plan - tax cuts across the board - sorry, Obama.

[EconomicLiberal]

Your dream of an 80% of senators and Congressman voting YEA on your legislation is a huge pipe dream, and adding some business tax cuts to your stimulus package proposal was a huge mistake, conceding ground to the Repukes when in reality they want to go further with tax cuts. You basically lent your hand out to them, and now they are going to bite it unless you concede even further ground.

Here is their plan.

http://rsc.price.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Econ_Recovery_Act_Highlights_Jan_14_2009.pdf

+ 5% tax cuts across the board across all income brackets. Aka, the current marginal rate for the highest earners is 35%. They want it to be 33%. Same thing with all the tax brackets.
+ Increase the child tax credit from $1000 to $5000
+ Make the 15% rate on dividends and capital gains permanent.
+ Lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%

As you see, more of the same from the Repukes that we have seen over the past 30 years.

Please, Obama, you were nominated by the Democratic Party. You were sent to the Oval Office for the most part due to Democrats. Trying to please the Republicans is an impossible goal. The Republicans do not have the best interests of this country at heart.

You have a large Democratic senate and house. Do not piss away that political capital. Get rid of the business tax cuts, fuck the repukes, shove this bill down their throats, and brute force it through Congress. Americans will thank you later.

[Lasher]

1. Right, the initial olive branch just moved the starting point to the right.

A mistake that was taken by the GOP as nothing more than a sign of weakness.

[TTUBatfan2008]

4. Actually I think he's playing them, not the other way around...

The morons refused to take what he offered. They look like ungrateful little turds. He can now move his plan further to the left and ram it down their throats. The public will support him because the Republicans look like the jerks in this situation. Obama gave them their chance. They chose not to accept it.

[EconomicLiberal]

5. Ungrateful?

I wouldn't call them ungrateful. I would call them foolish. I would call them idiots. But I wouldn't call them ungrateful. They are the opposition party. They are expectd to oppose sweeping measures like this. It's Obama's fault for reaching his hand out and expecting them not to bite back. It shows a lack of experience and lots of naivety.

[TTUBatfan2008]

6. On the contrary...

I think he EXPECTED them to do exactly what they're doing. And it gives him plenty of reason to move his plan to the left and ram it down their throats.

[EconomicLiberal]

7. How does that make them ungrateful?

[TTUBatfan2008]

11. He offered an olive branch and they refused it...

They look like partisan asshats to the majority of the country, which is exactly what he intended.

[Occam Bandage]

16. Right. Too few people here realize that Obama is not reaching out to Republican legislators,

he is reaching out to centrist and weak-Republican voters. The Republican legislators will always oppose him. It's in his interest to make it look like his opposition is petty, partisan whiners instead of like brave voices against an overreaching would-be dictator. He wants to offer pragmatic compromises, and let the Republicans reject them at their own peril.

[backscatter712]

17. That's what I've been seeing.

He was more than generous with the Republicans, and he stole their fiscal-conservative hat from them by low-balling the stimulus package.

That robs the Rethugs of room to maneuver. They can't demand a lower stimulus package, and they can't really demand much more in the way of tax cuts without looking like douches, while the Democrats have lots of room to push to raise the stimulus package and push for more stimulus instead of tax cuts.

Yeah. We're going to see a bigger stimulus package.

[Democrats_win]

2. Those tax cuts have worked so well in the past---the ones that paved the way to today's depression.

[Maven]

3. Keep reaching out!

We'll get to "yes" soon enough if we keep moving toward them!

[WI_DEM]

8. child tax credit from $1000 to $50,000!! I better hurry and start making kids.

[EconomicLiberal]

9. Whoops, I added an extra zero.

;)

[northernlights]

10. damn!

I was ready to go out and start making kids at age 55. Hormones, kid-leases, whatever it takes. I'll have 4, please! ;-)

[Lasher]

27. I think I already made at least one more.

Dammit! How do you get onea them mornin' after pills?

[TheKentuckian]

12. I see as an opportunity to "make them famous" as obstructionist

and pry every vote save the braindead 28 percenters away from them and leave the assholes in the wilderness without a compass.

The Bully Pulpit can be very effective, how do you think Reagan shoved his crazy policies through? That was when Congress could locate it's spine on a map to boot.

[FrenchieCat]

14. The Bully Pulpit has already started to be heard......

Obama, Stimulus Proposals Enjoy Broad Backing in Poll

Asked whether Republicans in Congress should do everything to stand firm for their party's principles and oppose the legislation, or look to compromise with the Obama administration, 68% of Republicans and independents chose compromise, with 20% picking standing firm.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123196999580982953.html

[Occam Bandage]

13. Things are going well. The Republicans just took themselves out of the conversation.

Obama can fairly say that he tried compromise, and the Republicans refused. Polls show he has enormous backing for his stimulus plan; both he and the Republicans know he can dictate whatever he wants in this plan--and both know that the Republicans' only option, electorally, is to oppose what Obama does and hope like hell the package backfires and they can run against it.

[TTUBatfan2008]

15. You said it all right there...

and so much for "country first" eh? It's really "party first" when it comes to those turd sandwiches.

[Occam Bandage]

18. Obama has had months to prepare for his first legislative effort.

He has a friendly Congress, a confused and infighting Republican party on its heels, and huge majorities behind him. He couldn't ask for a better environment to demonstrate how he does business. We're going to learn a lot about how he plans on working from this.

[joeglow3]

19. I like the child tax credit piece

And this phases out at $110,000 for joint filers. Thus, this would greatly help out working poor families (which make up the lion share of our poor).

[mrreowwr_kittty]

31. Hate to burst your bubble but what they're proposing is a "non-refundable" credit

Which means it won't help any poor families. It would only go to families who earned enough to pay $5000 (or X times however many children they have). The lion's share of the benefit would go to the families toward the $120K end of the scale (which is modified adjusted income BTW, not gross).

[AllentownJake]

20. You don't negotiate with terrorist and war criminals.

[high density]

21. This is to be expected

They have nothing to offer beyond tax cuts. Repube brains can think of nothing else.

[EconomicLiberal]

22. Too true.

It's the same playbook they've been using for 30 years.

[crimsonblue]

23. the $5000 per child credit is the biggest piece of bullshit..

It essentially rewards people for incessently popping out children, like that stupid fundie couple with 18 fucking kids. They would get $90,000 a year. Fuck. That.

[fed_up_mother]

24. That's like saying we should stop paying welfare because some people abuse the system.

Yeah, some people DO abuse the welfare system. However, as maddening as that might be to some folks, it's better to let a few scammers slip in than to shut the program down because we don't want to reward "welfare queens."

Well, not helping families with larger tax credits for children because a small minority of folks have a lot of kids is the same attitude, imo. It's costly to raise kids.

[crimsonblue]

25. don't have so many kids.. it's irresponsible. n/t

[fed_up_mother]

26. I don't have eighteen kids. You don't have to tell me that! LOL

[mrreowwr_kittty]

30. Who do you think is going to pay for those tax credits?

That money you get now is more debt you are saddling your children and their children with.

[fed_up_mother]

32. You're right. We need larger deductions for kids and adults.

That's something the middle class would benefit from.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

29. I hear ya. Just get ready to be flamed.

As for what the Repukes are proposing, it's very unsurprising. Parents are a big voting bloc and the fundies with big families would make out like bandits. Childless people aren't doing their gawdly duty to procreate more consumers, so of course we should get fucked.

[Augdog20]

28. vote in blog poll: new Commerce Secretary

Check out my blog
and vote in online blog (Blue Republic of America):

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http://bluesunited.blogspot.com