2010 elections

Top Five Political Catch Phrases Of 2010

Brian Beutler | December 29, 2010, 12:45PM

Sarah Palin

A big part of politics is coming up with catchy slogans and phrases so that voters draw conclusions that help your party. They run the gamut from Barack Obama's "Yes we can!" to Sarah Palin's "death panels."

The flipside of that is that you have to avoid saddling yourself with unflattering slogans and catch phrases. A bad gaffe will stick to a politician like flypaper -- sometimes for years. These buzzwords and catchphrases bubble up into the political discourse all the time. Most of them dissipate harmlessly, but a few attach themselves to their subjects like stink on, well, chickencrap.

Here's our list of the top five political catch phrases of 2010 -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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Tax Cuts

New GOP House Rules Pave The Way For More Tax Cuts, Deficits

Brian Beutler | December 28, 2010, 10:36AM

House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)

In 2007, just weeks after Republicans lost control of the House and Senate and six years after the first passel of Bush tax cuts were signed into law, Democrats made a key change to the budget rules to prevent that episode from repeating itself.

Republicans had used the budget reconciliation process -- immune from a filibuster -- to pass the cuts and explode the deficit: two things the reconciliation process was never meant to allow. To get away with it, Republicans were forced to include a 10-year sunset in package -- planting the seeds for the tax cut fight we just saw on Capitol Hill. After Dems wrested control of Congress, they banned the reconciliation loopholes used by the GOP altogether.

But as they return to power in the House of Representatives, Republicans are taking steps to unravel those changes.

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Barack Obama

Top 5 Lame Duck Winners For 2010

Brian Beutler | December 24, 2010, 8:25AM

President Barack Obama

Republicans attacked it as a perversion of democracy, and used it as an excuse to continue to vote against Dem priorities. Democrats recognized it as their last chance to accomplish much of anything for the next two years. People in the media mistook it for a Barack Obama renaissance.

Certainly Democrats accomplished more than most people expected they would these last several weeks. But between the victories and the compromises and the defeats, it's hard to keep track of who came out on top.

Here's a list of the lame duck's big winners to help you sort it all out.

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Tax Cuts

House Passes Tax Cut Plan, Obama To Sign

Brian Beutler | December 16, 2010, 11:05PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

After a bumpy ride, and a brief, unexpected revolt by rank and file Democrats, the House passed President Obama's tax plan late Thursday night by a vote of 277 to 148. The vast majority of the 'no' votes were cast by Democrats.

Because the package that passed the House is identical to the version that passed the Senate earlier this week, the bill will head directly to the White House for Obama's signature.

House Democratic leaders had planned to tie a bow around the Obama tax cuts early this afternoon. But a bloc of angry progressives scuttled that plan. In a move that surprised aides and members, they temporarily derailed a key procedural measure required to pass the bill. The tactic was meant to register their disapproval with the legislation, and the terms of the debate, both of which were designed without their input.

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Chaka Fattah

Kabuki Tax Revolt: Dems Put The Brakes On The Obama Tax Plan

Brian Beutler | December 16, 2010, 3:34PM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama

House progressives are still prepared for President Obama's tax cut compromise to pass unamended. But they temporarily derailed that train this afternoon to be heard publicly on just how bad they think the package is.

"If we're going to lose, let's lose with a strong message," Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) -- chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus -- told me and another reporter in the Speaker's Lobby this afternoon.

Earlier today, he and other progressives interrupted the tax plan's glide path by blocking a key procedural measure -- a stalling tactic they hope to leverage into being given a chance to vote on substantial changes to the bill. All efforts to amend the legislation are expected to fail. But rank and file Dems are angry that during the brief floor debate over the cuts they were given only one shot at a relatively narrow, symbolic amendment to raise the estate tax.

As long as they're being set up to fail, progressives want that measure to include a whole range of changes to the bill.

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Tax Cuts

House To Vote On Tax Plan Today

Brian Beutler | December 16, 2010, 11:39AM

Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner

This afternoon, the House of Representatives will vote on -- and likely pass -- the White House's tax cut plan. The legislation, which already passed the Senate, will likely go straight to President Obama's desk, and here's why:

The House's influential rules committee has OK'd a vote on one key amendment -- to stiffen the plan's estate tax provision. The overwhelming majority of Democrats support lowering the threshold, and raising the rate of the estate tax in the plan -- in fact the House has passed estate tax legislation that does just that.

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Social Security

Top Democrat Identifies Another Threat To Social Security In Obama Tax Plan

Brian Beutler | December 15, 2010, 8:45AM

Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ)

An outspoken and respected House liberal is concerned that President Obama's tax cut plan will pose more than one threat to Social Security.

Progressive advocates, and a wide swath of the Democratic party, oppose Obama's call for a partial employee payroll tax holiday. Not because they don't want workers to have extra cash in their pocket, but because they worry that a supposedly temporary payroll tax rate will become the new normal and jeopardize Social Security in the long run. Next year, they worry, Republicans will characterize allowing the holiday to lapse as a "tax hike" on workers, and Dems will be cowed into extending it.

Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) shares that fear. But even if things don't shake out that way, he says, treating the funding mechanism for Social Security as a variable that can be tweaked to fund stimulus or reduce deficits will erode Social Security's status as the third rail of American politics, and leave it vulnerable to future attacks from the right.

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Bush Tax Cuts

House Dems Prepare To Fold On Obama Tax Cut Deal

Brian Beutler | December 14, 2010, 10:02PM

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer with other House Democrats

House Democrats are coming to terms with the fact that a tax cut compromise filled with provisions they despise will pass and be signed into law. On Tuesday night they vented their frustrations to their harried leadership in a private caucus meeting, but emerged acknowledging that they've been boxed effectively in by the White House and GOP.

Tomorrow, after the Senate passes the plan President Obama negotiated with Congressional Republicans, Democratic leaders in the House will present their members with an end game. That endgame may involve passing the legislation word for word. Leaders may allow votes on amendments to the Senate-passed bill, and may even allow some minor tweaks to the package. But as far as dramatically tweaking its key provisions -- particularly the estate tax -- or otherwise endangering the deal, members predict leadership will allow those efforts to fail.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Hoyer: Fierce Urgency Of Now To Pass Tax Cut Plan

Brian Beutler | December 14, 2010, 11:45AM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama

Facing increasing pressure from Senate Republicans and the White House to pass the tax cut compromise bill unchanged, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer today suggested strongly that the urgency of preventing middle-income tax increases on January 1 will keep the White House's framework in tact. However, unhappy House Democrats will have a chance to go on the record in support of making changes to the package, though Democratic leadership won't be doing much to help those changes along.

"The vote in the Senate yesterday, 83-15...there is strong support for moving ahead," Hoyer told reporters this morning. "And the reason there's strong support for moving ahead is because there is a very keen sense that allowing middle-income taxes to go up on January 1 will not be good for the economy."

"That urgency is reflected in that 83-15 vote," he added.

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Barack Obama

Poll: Liberals Bail on Obama

Jon Terbush | December 14, 2010, 10:41AM

Pres. Barack Obama

Last week, Obama harshly chastised his political base. Now, his base is chastising him.

According to a McClatchy-Marist poll released over the weekend, President Obama's approval rating has fallen considerably in the past month among Democrats. Seventy-four percent of registered Democratic voters said they approved of the President's job performance, down from 84% last month, while his disapproval rating among the same group nearly doubled from 11% to 21%.

Among liberals, President Obama's approval rating fell from 78% to 69% as his disapproval rating rose from 14% to 22%.

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Tax Cuts

Poll: Seven in Ten Americans Support Tax Deal

Jon Terbush | December 14, 2010, 8:31AM

President Barack Obama meets with Republican and Democratic leaders

As the Senate prepares to vote on the tax compromise brokered between Republicans and President Obama, a Washington Post-ABC News poll released yesterday shows that nearly seven in 10 Americans support the proposal.

Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed said they support the tax deal, compared to 29% who were opposed. Even when explicitly told of the prime objections to the package -- that it would add $900 billion to the deficit and give tax breaks to the wealthy -- 62% of all respondents said they still supported the deal.

However, despite high bipartisan backing for the deal as a whole, few said they strongly supported it, with respondents clearly split along party lines over the compromise's components.

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Barack Obama

Axelrod On Tax Cuts: Wrong For Dems To 'Cut Your Nose Off To Spite Your Face'

Jillian Rayfield | December 13, 2010, 11:06AM

David Axelrod on CNN's State of the Union

White House senior adviser David Axelrod yesterday doubled down on President Obama's comments about "sanctimonious" and "purist" progressives who oppose his tax cut deal with the Republicans, telling them that "you can focus on what you don't like, and cut your nose off to spite your face, and that would be the wrong thing to do."

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Bush Tax Cuts

Do Americans Support Obama's Tax Cuts Deal? Depends How You Ask

Jon Terbush | December 13, 2010, 8:37AM

President Barack Obama

Two-thirds of Americans want the Bush tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest to expire at the end of the year, according to one recent poll. But in another poll, two-thirds of Americans want to extend all of the Bush tax cuts -- including those for the country's top earners.

How can that be possible? The answer is all in the poll question's phrasing.

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Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton Backs Tax Deal: 'I Hope That My Fellow Democrats Will Support It' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 10, 2010, 5:13PM

It seems like old times. Former President Bill Clinton took to the White House press room this afternoon, to voice his support for a compromise policy with Republicans, and to urge dissatisfied liberal Democrats to come over and vote for it. This time, though, he was offering his assistance to the current President Barack Obama, and for the tax cut and unemployment benefit deal that Obama and Republican leaders rolled out this week.

"So in my opinion, this is a good bill, and I hope that my fellow Democrats will support it," said Clinton. "I thank the Republican leaders for agreeing to include things that were important to the president. There's never a perfect bipartisan bill in the eyes of a partisan. And we all see this differently. But I really believe this will be a significant net plus for the country. I also think that in general a lot of people are breathing a sigh of relief that there's finally been some agreement on something."

After introducing Clinton, Obama actually left the briefing, leaving Clinton alone with the White House press corps.

The former president also added this advice to Democrats who are opposed to extending the Bush tax cuts on the top income brackets: "I think this a net plus. And you know how I feel, I think the people that benefit most should pay most. That's always been my position -- not for class warfare reasons, for reasons of fairness and rebuilding the middle class in America. But we have the distribution of authority we have now in the congress, and the one we're gonna have in January. And I think this is a much much better agreement than would be reached were we to wait until January, and I think it will have a much more positive agreement on the economy. So for whatever it's worth, that's what I think."

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: I Don't Think Tax Cuts Should Be Defined As Part Of A Deficit (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 10, 2010, 2:42PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) speaking at CPAC

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), the Tea Party mega-star, has emerged in the past few days as a leading opponent of the Obama-GOP tax cuts compromise from the right. And in the process, she is elaborating on the common theme among conservatives that tax cuts should not be paid for in terms of their effect on the deficits. Or as she puts it, cutting taxes shouldn't be defined as part of a deficit, and only spending should be viewed through this lens.

"I don't agree with that definition," Bachmann told Meredith Viera on the Today Show. "When people keep their own money, that's considered a deficit to government, but it's not a deficit to your pocket or mine, so I think it's important that people can keep their money."

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Barack Obama

2008 Obama Critic Enjoys Renewed Prominence After Tax Cut Cave (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | December 10, 2010, 10:57AM

President Barack Obama

In the wake of President Obama's capitulation to the GOP on tax cuts, one of his fiercest critics during the 2008 Democratic primary is getting a second look.

In an Ohio speech at a Hillary Clinton event two years ago, Tom Buffenbarger of the International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers stopped just short of calling Obama a wimp and a fraud.

"'Hope'? 'Change'? 'Yes We Can'? Give me a break! I've got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He's a poet, not a fighter."

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White House

White House Scrambles To Save Tax Cut Deal

Brian Beutler | December 10, 2010, 9:30AM

President Barack Obama

The White House hoped to set its tax cut compromise on a glide path: announce a deal, pass it in the Senate, pass an identical version in the House, sign it, move on to the next big thing.

But yesterday, after House Democrats voted no confidence in the Obama plan, that's anything but certain. And with House Democrats vowing to tweak the package the Senate sends over next week, the White House is scrambling to make sure that doesn't happen.

"We are in the contact with the leaders in both houses and lots of individual members," said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer on a conference call with reporters yesterday.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Dems Square Off With White House Over Tax Cut Compromise

Brian Beutler | December 9, 2010, 1:59PM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama

House Democrats will not silently accept the White House's edict that Congress pass the Obama-GOP tax cut compromise unchanged, touching off a brinksmanship that could kill the plan.

At a private meeting of the Democratic caucus this morning, members overwhelmingly rejected the idea that the plan is inviolable by passing a resolution agreeing not to bring up the tax package without changing it first. However, the White House and Republicans insist that the plan is in stone -- and any changes would likely prompt a GOP backlash.

The Senate could adopt the proposal as early as tonight, leaving House Democrats a choice between swallowing it, modifying it, or rejecting it and starting from scratch.

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Bush Tax Cuts

54 Liberal House Dems Release Letter Opposing Obama's Tax Cut Deal

Eric Kleefeld | December 9, 2010, 12:39PM

Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT)

In a new display of progressive opposition to the tax-cut deal, a group of 54 House Democrats have released a letter opposing the package -- and predicting that Republicans will double-cross the Dems later on when it comes to the resulting huge increase in the national debt.

The letter, headed up by Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), declares:

Adding more than $900 billion to our national debt, as this proposal would do, handcuffs our ability to offer a balanced plan to achieve fiscal stability without a punishing effect on our current commitments, including Social Security and Medicare.

...

Without a doubt, the very same people who support this addition to our debt will oppose raising the debt ceiling to pay for it.

We support extending tax cuts in full to 98 percent of American taxpayers, as the President initially proposed. He should not back down. Nor should we.

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Bush Tax Cuts

House Dems Vote No Confidence In Obama Tax Plan

Brian Beutler | December 9, 2010, 11:44AM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

House Democrats voted in a private meeting this morning to reject the tax cut plan President Obama negotiated with the GOP.

By voice vote, Democrats agreed to a non-binding resolution, introduced by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), not to bring up the Obama plan in its current form.

A House Democratic aide characterized the rebuke as a "vote of no-confidence" in the package -- a ratification of the anger Dems expressed to Vice President Joe Biden at a meeting yesterday evening about the details of the plan and the fact that House Democrats were closed out of the negotiations.

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Harry Reid

Harry Reid Signals Willingness To Rumble Over Debt Ceiling

Brian Beutler | December 9, 2010, 11:03AM

One of the Democrats' main concerns with the tax cut compromise is about what's not in the plan: a measure that would increase the amount of debt the United States can legally take on. It gives the Republican an opening to repeat this hostage situation next year when they control the House: agree to raise the debt ceiling, but only if Democrats agree to slash spending programs by billions. Spending cuts or default. You pick!

President Obama flubbed a question earlier this week about whether he'd given the GOP the leverage they need to repeat this scenario early next year when the country hits its debt ceiling. But maybe Dems are more prepared for that fight than critics give them credit for.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Dems Held Hostage By Tax Cut Deal

Brian Beutler | December 9, 2010, 9:23AM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Democrats' unease with President Obama's tax cut compromise waned slightly yesterday -- particularly in the Senate, after members were briefed about the economic upsides to getting this package passed before the end of the year. But even as the legislation was being drafted -- in preparation for a Senate floor debate that could begin today -- Dems were hoping the framework could be tweaked a bit -- particularly the estate tax provision, which even sympathetic members regard as too-friendly to the children of the über-rich.

That's not going to happen.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Collins Hands Reid A Final Offer On Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Brian Beutler | December 8, 2010, 5:58PM

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)

Here's what Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that she needs to support a full Senate debate on the defense authorization bill (the vehicle for Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal): 15 guaranteed votes on amendments (10 for Republicans, and 5 for Democrats), and somewhere around four days to debate the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid already promised her the 15 amendments, but his initial offer was for a day or two of debate. Here's her response to reporters tonight, after a Senate vote.

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Christine O'Donnell

O'Donnell: Unemployment Benefits Deal 'Tragedy' Like Pearl Harbor And Elizabeth Edwards

Eric Kleefeld | December 8, 2010, 11:13AM

Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell, the religious right activist and recent losing Republican Senate nominee in Delaware, offered her two cents Tuesday on the deal that President Obama worked out with the Republican leadership on extending both tax cuts and unemployment benefits -- likening it to the death of Elizabeth Edwards, and the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Hill reports:

Today marks a lot of tragedy," O'Donnell, the Tea Party-backed GOP Senate candidate from Delaware, said Tuesday night during an appearance in Virginia.

"Tragedy comes in threes," O'Donnell said. "Pearl Harbor, Elizabeth Edwards's passing and Barack Obama's announcement of extending the tax cuts, which is good, but also extending the unemployment benefits."

O'Donnell continued: "The reason I say this is a tragedy is because his announcement of economic recovery was more of a potpourri of sound bytes. It's like he took a little bit of what each party wanted and put it together. It's not a solid plan constructed on sound economic principles."

Mary Landrieu

Landrieu Blasts 'Obama-McConnell' Plan For Selling Out Black Voters

Brian Beutler | December 8, 2010, 10:28AM

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) blasted President Obama's tax cut compromise yesterday. She decried the "moral corruptness" of the idea of giving wealthy Americans a tax cut extension on the backs of poor and middle class workers.

To many, it came out of nowhere. After all, she voted for these tax cuts back in 2001, and, by her own admission, isn't really known for taking on progressive causes against the center and the right. But check out this portion of her criticisms of the plan, which went unreported.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Bloomberg Poll: Americans Don't Want To Extend Tax Cuts For Wealthy

Marc Kilstein | December 8, 2010, 10:08AM

President Barack Obama meets with Democratic and Republican leaders

On Tuesday, President Obama defended his tax cuts compromise, suggesting the deal will result in effective policy, rather than merely "sanctimonious" pride in the purity of one's belief. The American people, however, don't appear to see eye to eye with the President on this, according to a newly released Bloomberg poll.

When respondents were asked if they generally favor or oppose eliminating tax cuts that the wealthiest Americans have received in recent years, 59% say they are in favor while 38% say they oppose.

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Barack Obama

Maddow And Olbermann Slam Obama's Tax Cut Compromise (VIDEO)

Megan Carpentier | December 8, 2010, 10:03AM

Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann

If you were first astonished at the outlines of President Obama's tax cut compromise with GOP leaders on Monday and then angry yesterday when Obama called liberals "sanctimonious" for suggesting that he compromised too soon, you weren't alone. MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann came out last night with guns blazing, and spared few shots.

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Bush Tax Cuts

House Dems Identify Key Objection To Obama Tax Compromise

Brian Beutler | December 7, 2010, 10:45PM

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer with other House Democrats

Angry House Democrats identified their key objection to President Obama's tax cut compromise Tuesday night, after they were briefed on the deal in a private meeting by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders.

Several members are withholding their support for the legislation unless the details of an estate tax agreement between the White House and Senate Republicans become more progressives.

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Barack Obama

Two Major Conservative Obstacles Emerge To Tax Cut Compromise

Brian Beutler | December 7, 2010, 9:19PM

Jim DeMint

Two key obstacles emerged Tuesday night to the passage of President Obama's tax cut compromise with the GOP. This time they come from the right: The influential anti-tax group Club for Growth and conservative kingmaker Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) both came out in opposition to the agreement, threatening the breadth of Republican support for the plan.

"This is bad policy, bad politics, and a bad deal for the American people," said Club President Chris Chocola in a statement. "The plan would resurrect the Death Tax, grow government, blow a hole in the deficit with unpaid-for spending, and do so without providing the permanent relief and security our economy needs to finally start hiring and growing again."

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Progressives

Obama Dresses Down 'Sanctimonious' And 'Purist' Progressives (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 7, 2010, 3:52PM

In the final question of today's press conference, President Obama was asked by Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal how he would respond to Democrats who think he's compromised too much in agreeing on a two-year extension of all the Bush-era tax cuts -- even for the wealthiest Americans -- and that they have a hard time figuring out his core principles on what issues he would go to the mat for. Obama then responded forcefully, saying that the positions of such people on the left would result in getting nothing done, except having a "sanctimonious" pride in the purity of their own positions.

The president compared current complaints from progressives to sparring over health care reform, saying that "this is the public option debate all over again." Then, Obama said, while he was able to pass reform Democrats had fought for for a century, they instead viewed it as "weakness and compromise" that there was no public option. "Now, if that's the standard by which we are measuring success or core principles, then let's face it, we will never get anything done."

"This is a big, diverse country," Obama also said. "Not everybody agrees with us. I know that shocks people."

"This country was founded on compromise. I couldn't go through the front door of this country's founding," he later added. "And you know, if we were really thinking about ideal positions, we wouldn't have a Union."

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Barack Obama

Obama On Tax Cuts Deal: I'd 'Stick To My Guns' ... 'If There Was Not Collateral Damage' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | December 7, 2010, 2:59PM

President Obama giving press conference on tax cuts. Dec. 7, 2010

At his press conference just now, President Obama explained that he was compromising with the Republicans on a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts for the highest incomes, in order to avert the expiration of all the tax cuts that would result in across-the-board tax increases at a tough time.

"Now if there was not collateral damage, if this was just a matter of my politics, or being able to persuade the American people to my side, then I would just stick to my guns," said Obama. "Because the fact of the matter is, the American people already agree with me. There are polls showing right now that the American people for the most part think it's a bad idea to provide tax cuts to the wealthy.

"But the issue is not me persuading the American people -- they're already there. The issue is, how do I persuade the Republicans in the Senate who are currently blocking that position? I have not been able to budge them. And I don't think there's any suggestion that anybody in this room thinks realistically that we can budge them right now. And in the meantime, there are a whole bunch of people being hurt, and the economy is being damaged."

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Polls

Poll: Obama Supporters Overwhelmingly Oppose Tax Cuts Deal

Jon Terbush | December 7, 2010, 2:25PM

President Barack Obama

Throughout the 2008 campaign, President Obama repeatedly stated that he would not extend the Bush tax cuts for Americans making more than $250,000 a year. Now, in the wake of Obama's announcement of a deal with Republicans to extend those very tax cuts for another two years, he's taking some heat.

As Greg Sargent reports, a SurveyUSA poll of voters who contributed time or money to Obama's campaign found that a vast majority oppose extending tax cuts for the nation's top earners, even if it comes as part of a deal with Republicans. Eighty-three percent of the surveyed Obama backers said they were opposed -- 70% of them strongly -- to extending the tax cuts for people making over $250,000 a year, with 74% opposing a Republican compromise that would result in an extension of those cuts.

In addition, 51% of the respondents said they would be less likely to contribute to Obama's reelection campaign if he struck such a deal, while 57% said they would be less favorable toward Democrats who back the compromise.

The tax deal currently being mulled would extend the Bush tax cuts on all Americans, regardless of income, for two years in exchange for a 13-month extension of unemployment benefits, among other things. Congressional Democrats have hardly embraced the proposal, with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer saying this morning that a top bracket tax cut extension "is not appropriate," and that the compromise could still change.

The poll, commissioned by MoveOn, surveyed 1,132 voters in twenty states who donated to or campaigned for Obama in the 2008 presidential election. It was conducted December 6.

Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi: 'We Will Continue Discussions' With Obama And Dem Caucus On Tax Cuts

Eric Kleefeld | December 7, 2010, 1:21PM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has released a statement on President Obama's tax compromise with the Republicans -- and it sounds some clear notes of skepticism on the Republicans' conditions of a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts on the top income brackets.

"The tax proposal announced by the President clearly presents the differences between Democrats and Republicans," Pelosi says. "Any provision must be judged by two criteria: does it create jobs to grow our economy and does it add to the deficit?"

Pelosi then compares and contrasts the Dem proposals on middle-class tax cuts, saying that "Republican demands would provide tax cuts to the millionaires and billionaires, fail to create jobs and increase the deficit."

Take it as another sign that the White House could have a tough road ahead to bring House Democrats on board.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Hoyer: No Dem Agreement On Tax Cuts; Deal Could Still Change

Brian Beutler | December 7, 2010, 12:49PM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer today expressed serious reservations with the tax cut framework President Obama reached with Senate Republicans, and declined to say whether his caucus would support the plan or even whether the leadership time would whip votes to ensure that it passes. However, Hoyer also chastised Republicans for their willingness to let all the Bush tax cuts expire, suggesting Democrats will figure out a way to assure the President's plan doesn't fail entirely -- including, perhaps, by making some changes to it.

"There was no consensus or agreement reached by the House leadership," Hoyer told reporters this morning, reiterating the broad view of the Democratic caucus that "giving tax cuts to high-income Americans is not appropriate."

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Economy

Economists Say Tax Cut Deal Won't Stimulate The Economy Much

Brian Beutler | December 7, 2010, 8:34AM

President Barack Obama

Democratic Congressional leaders are steamed at President Obama for locking in a deal with Republicans to extend all the Bush tax cuts temporarily. It's just caving, they say, and it punts the tax cut fight into the next election. But in exchange for agreeing to the extension, Obama got Republicans to agree to a year-long extension of unemployment benefits, and a year-long, two percentage point reduction in the payroll tax, meant to mimic a temporary extension of the tax breaks that were in the stimulus bill. Each of these concessions will inject much-needed demand into the economy. Could this silver lining be bright enough to make the extension of all the cuts worth it?

According to progressive economists, it will help, but won't make a huge dent.

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Bush Tax Cuts

They've Got A Deal? White House And GOP Come To Terms On Tax Cuts

Brian Beutler | December 6, 2010, 5:49PM

President Obama speaks at a bipartisan White House gathering with Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) in the background.

The White House and GOP reached an agreement in principle today to extend all the Bush tax cuts for two years, TPM has confirmed.

In exchange, the GOP has agreed to the Kyl-Lincoln estate tax compromise: raising the estate tax on estates larger than $5 million to 35 percent for two years and continuing to exempt smaller estates. The GOP has also agreed to a temporary stimulative payroll tax cut: instead of extending the making-work-pay tax credit in the stimulus bill, they've reportedly tentatively agreed to a one-year, two percent reduction in the payroll tax. Lastly, the Republicans have agreed to a extend unemployment benefits retroactively from December through the end of 2011 -- 13 months altogether.

These details were first reported by the Daily Caller.

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Mitch McConnell

McConnell Says Dems Will Cave On Tax Cuts

Brian Beutler | December 5, 2010, 11:05AM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Signaling confidence that Democrats will stop blustering and cave on tax cuts, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell predicted today that all of the Bush era tax rates will be extended temporarily.

"I think it's pretty clear now taxes are not going up on anybody in the middle of this recession," McConnell said on Meet the Press. "It isn't going to happen."

McConnell acknowledged that, despite broad Democratic opposition on Capitol Hill, the White House and GOP are currently negotiating a compromise based on a temporary extension of all the Bush tax cuts, which would likely punt this debate into presidential election season.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Schumer: Large Appetite To Fight Even If All Bush Tax Cuts Expire

Brian Beutler | December 4, 2010, 12:09PM

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)

At a press conference this morning after Senate Republicans blocked a bid to let Bush tax cuts for wealthy Americans expire, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said a large number of Democrats are prepared to continue this fight into next year, even if it means all the Bush tax cuts sunset as scheduled.

In response to a question from TPM, Schumer acknowledged, "there are lots of people in our caucus who do have that appetite. There are some who don't."

As he said that, several members joining him on stage -- Mark Begich (D-AK), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Al Franken (D-MN), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) -- nodded in agreement.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Senate Republicans Block Middle Class Tax Cut

Brian Beutler | December 4, 2010, 11:20AM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Senate Republicans today successfully filibustered two Democratic tax cut bills that would have allowed Bush-era tax cuts benefiting only the wealthiest sliver of the country to expire. The party-line votes were intended by Democratic leaders to put Republicans on the record blocking the extension of tax cuts that would have benefited all Americans in order to secure additional tax cuts for the highest-income earners in America.

Today's result was never in doubt. At a press conference yesterday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who masterminded the votes, characterized today's exercise as part of a long-running argument between Democrats and Republicans -- one that voters will judge on election day in 2012. "This is going to be a winning argument not just for the next one to two weeks, but for the next two years," he said.

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Robert Menendez

Menendez On GOP Tax Cut Posture: 'Do You Negotiate With Terrorists?'

Brian Beutler | December 3, 2010, 2:22PM

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)

At a press conference this afternoon with several Senators calling out Republicans for blocking middle-class tax cuts, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) escalated the Dem rhetoric by comparing the GOP's my-way-or-the-highway posture to the demands of terrorists.

Responding to a reporter pressing Dems to explain why the haven't put forth a compromise that can pass the Senate, Menendez said a quickly negotiated solution might not be in the best interest of the nation.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Poll: Only 26% Of Americans Want All Bush Tax Cuts Extended

Jon Terbush | December 3, 2010, 11:34AM

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

Riding high on their midterm election gains, Republicans have argued for extending all of the Bush tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year, as opposed to a Democratic proposal to extend them only for Americans' first $250,000 of income.

Despite House Republican leader John Boehner's assertion that Republicans would "stop all the tax hikes" a CBS News poll released Thursday found that a majority of Americans would rather see tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire while extending them for everyone else.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Senate Tax Cut Deal Falls Through

Brian Beutler | December 3, 2010, 8:17AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

It's back to plan A.

A tentative agreement between Republican and Democratic Senate leaders to hold four tax cut votes today fell through late last night, over the objections of a GOP member.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Senate Planning Four Tax Cut Votes Tomorrow

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2010, 7:52PM

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Harry Reid (D-NV)

Jim Manley, spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid confirms that the Senate is planning four tax cut votes tomorrow. As reported here, these will include the two Dem-sponsored plans: middle-income only cuts, and a tax hikes for millionaires.

The Senate will also vote on two Republican-backed plans: one to extend all of the Bush tax cuts for five years, and another to extend them permanently.

This is all contingent upon unanimous consent of the Dem and Republican caucuses. If any senators -- Jim DeMint or Tom Coburn come to mind -- decide to object, then plans change. Reid could file for cloture on the tax cut plans, or they could drop the whole thing.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Senate Planning Four Tax Cut Votes Tomorrow

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2010, 7:52PM

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Harry Reid (D-NV)

Jim Manley, spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid confirms that the Senate is planning four tax cut votes tomorrow. As reported here, these will include the two Dem-sponsored plans: middle-income only cuts, and a tax hikes for millionaires.

The Senate will also vote on two Republican-backed plans: one to extend all of the Bush tax cuts for five years, and another to extend them permanently.

This is all contingent upon unanimous consent of the Dem and Republican caucuses. If any senators -- Jim DeMint or Tom Coburn come to mind -- decide to object, then plans change. Reid could file for cloture on the tax cut plans, or they could drop the whole thing.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Source: Senate Dems Will Likely Force Vote On Middle-Class Tax Cuts

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2010, 5:15PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Charles Schumer (D-NY)

Senate Democrats are planning to force a vote on the House's just-passed middle-income tax cut bill and a second package to let the Bush tax cuts expire above a new, $1 million tax bracket, according to a Democratic aide.

The move is a sign of the leadership's frustration -- though both packages will likely be filibustered by Republicans, Dems are loath to simply wait for negotiations with Republicans and the White House to end on terms they suspect will be much more favorable to the GOP than to their own party.

At his press conference today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was non-committal about whether this would happen. And though the aide emphasizes that the plan isn't set in stone, it looks like this is the direction Senate Dems are headed. Reid would have to file for cloture tomorrow, resulting in a rare Saturday roll call. Dems would need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster.

Bush Tax Cuts

House Dems Pass Only Middle Class Tax Cut Bill

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2010, 3:56PM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Using a wily procedural maneuver to tie Republican hands, House Democrats managed to pass, by a vote of 234-188, legislation that will allow the Bush tax cuts benefiting only the wealthiest Americans to expire.

Democrats were not united on the issue. Twenty voted with Republicans to kill the tax cut bill, as they hold out for extending additional cuts to wealthy Americans -- though 3 Republicans, including Reps. Ron Paul (TX) and Walter Jones (NC) voted for the tax cut extensions. However the outcome will (and was designed to) allow Democrats to draw distinctions between themselves and Republicans during the 2012 election cycle.

President Obama endorsed the plan many months ago, and continues to support it. But divisions within his party, the White House's soft push, and the new political reality after the November election have made it highly unlikely that this legislation will become law. It would need to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, and Democrats lack the 60 votes they'd need to do that.

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John Boehner

Boehner Blasts Dems' 'Chickencrap' Tax Cut Vote Gambit (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2010, 12:43PM

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)

This afternoon, House Democrats will hold an up or down vote on vote on President Obama's plan to extend tax cuts to income below $250,000, and they've figured out a way to prevent the Republicans from pulling procedural tricks that might sink it -- a straight vote on whether or not wealthy people deserve an additional tax break. Today, at his weekly press conference, House Minority Leader John Boehner compared the move to fertilizer.

"I'm trying to catch my breath so I don't refer to this maneuver going on today as chickencrap, alright?' Boehner said. "But this is nonsense."

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Stimulus

Paul Ryan Says No More Tax Cut Stimulus, Either

Brian Beutler | December 2, 2010, 12:20PM

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

With Republicans set to take control of the House next year, some Democrats on the Hill and in the administration had been hoping that the parties could agree on the sort of stimulus that Republicans typically like: tax breaks. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) says: Don't count on it.

"I don't think so...that's like cash for clunkers, rebates, payroll holidays -- those don't work," Ryan told me after a Christian Science Monitor breakfast roundtable with reporters this morning. "They don't work to grow the economy. they lose a lot of money, they give you an artificial sugar high in the quarter in which they take place, and then they go right back down."

There's a strong consensus among economists that the key to growth is to inject demand into the economy, either by spending or giving people money to spend through tax credits, rebates, etc. Some Republicans do support measures like this. But according to Ryan, they're the minority within the party.

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START treaty

Kyl: Dems Cave By Monday Or No START Treaty

Brian Beutler | December 1, 2010, 2:34PM

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

Republicans say no Senate business until tax cuts are extended and the government is funded -- presumably on terms favorable to the GOP. That apparently includes the START treaty. And now the man leading the resistance to ratifying the treaty during the lame duck says Dems have until Monday to come to terms with Republicans on those two issues.

"If the taxes all can't be resolved and voted on and completed and spending for the government for the next ten months completed by like next Monday, I don't know how there's enough time to complete START," Kyl told The Hill.

Remember, Kyl isn't just the driving force opposing START ratification. He's also the Senate Republicans top tax cut negotiator in bipartisan discussions with the White House. Some suspected that his participation would lead to a compromise involving ratification, but that will only happen if Republicans say so.

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Democrats

House Dems To Press Ahead With Middle-Class Tax Cut Vote

Brian Beutler | December 1, 2010, 12:43PM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Speaker Of The House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

While White House and congressional negotiators meet to break the tax cut gridlock, and the Senate is frozen in place under a blanket Republican filibuster threat, House Democrats will press ahead with a vote tomorrow morning to extend tax cuts on middle-income alone.

At his weekly press availability, House Majority Leaders Steny Hoyer (D-MD) predicted that the measure would face still resistance from the GOP, but would not interfere with broader compromise negotiations.

"What we have agreement on is being held hostage by what we do not have agreement on -- that is the taxes for the wealthiest Americans," Hoyer said. "One of the things that was discussed yesterday with the president was that where we can find common ground, we ought to move on it. We ought to move forward."

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Bush Tax Cuts

Polls: Plurality Want Bush Tax Cuts On Wealthiest Americans To Expire

Marc Kilstein | December 1, 2010, 11:53AM

President Obama holds a bi-partisan meeting at the White House on July 27, 2010.

With the Bush tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year, Democrats and Republicans are squaring off in Washington over how best to handle the issue-- extend the middle-class tax cuts while allowing the cuts for the wealthy to expire, or extend the tax cuts for all Americans, regardless of income.

And as the divide in Washington has become more clear, two new national polls suggest the American public is also split. Both polls, however, show a plurality of Americans don't want tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to be extended.

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Bush Tax Cuts

Tax Cut Negotiators Meeting This Morning

Eric Kleefeld | December 1, 2010, 10:19AM

Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner

The bipartisan group set to negotiate the issues surrounding the expiration of the Bush tax cuts is set to meet at 10:15 a.m. ET, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The roster:

• Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner

• Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jacob Lew

• Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee

• Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

• Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the incoming ranking member of the House Budget Committee

• Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), the likely next Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Steve King

Steve King: People Will Die Thinking About Estate Tax If We Don't Act (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | December 1, 2010, 8:42AM

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is quite concerned that if the estate tax is reinstated after December 31, there will be "people that are on their death bed, families gathered around the death bed, making life and death decisions by looking at tax liabilities."

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