Should Democrats Support President Obama Tax Cuts Deal? …by Roger Caldwell

As Congress concludes its business for the 111^th session, the "Bush Tax Cuts" will determine if taxes are raised, and hundreds of thousands of people are impacted by the loss of unemployment insurance. The Republicans and President Obama have made a deal that the Obama administration can work with, and they believe it is good for the country and our depressed economy.

 

President Obama is aware that the new Congress will have a majority of Republicans in the House, and it will be necessary to negotiate and compromise. As a pragmatic statesman, President Obama is reaching out an olive branch to let the Republicans know that he is listening, and he is their friend.

 

He is aware that there are ideological and core differences in their philosophies, but the goal is to make America better for all Americans. The president is ready to make concessions to move forward the committee meetings and debates. There are going to be intense discussions on the direction the new Congress will take, and the Republicans in the House possess the votes to have their policies accepted.

Nevertheless this week in closed-door meetings, the Democrats made it clear to President Obama that they are not in support of the tax deal he made with Republicans. The words "Just say no" were the new mantra being espoused by many of the Democrats. They felt that President Obama was changing boats in the middle of the stream, and they were angry and upset.

 

Many Democrats believe that the wealthy are in a position to pay higher taxes to help improve the economy. If the tax cuts are extended for two years, it will cost the economy $120 billion that it will be missing in tax revenue, and over 10 years it will impact tax revenue by $800 billion.

I have no idea how the Joint Tax Committee comes up with its numbers, but it was my understanding that extending the tax cuts were only for two years. President Obama's plan according to most economists, is supposed to boost the economy. At the end of the two years, the administration and the Congress would sit down again and make an assessment of the economy and determine what direction to take.

At this point by extending the tax cuts, the administration would increase the money supply, reduce consumer uncertainty about raising taxes, and continue keeping the consumers spending money. In order for the economy to grow, it is necessary for the consumer to spend more money, and help put more Americans back to work.

President Obama understands that in politics, there are no permanent friends and there are no permanent enemies. In order to arrive at a compromise, everyone must be willing to give up something. Everyone has a wish list, but they understand at the end of the day they will only get a portion of their demands and wishes.

The tax cuts end on December 31, 2010, and the Democrats can be stubborn and refuse to compromise, or allow the wealthiest two percent of Americans keep their tax breaks. By letting the wealthy have their tax breaks, millions of Americans will continue to have unemployment insurance, and millions of Americans will not have to worry about their taxes increasing.

The Democrats need to get on board and support the "Obama Tax Cut Deal." The Senate Democrats are on board but the House Democrats are angry and grand-standing. Many of these Democrats will not be back in the new session of Congress, because they lost their election.

It is my hope that the House Democrats support President Obama's Tax Cut Deal, so everyone can go home and have a wonderful and healthy holiday.

Check Roger's other columns at http://www.presidentobamawatch.wordpress.com/ and sign up for updates on Facebook and Twitter.