Notochord* Detected
Democrats have finally decided to do what has been so freakin’ obvious all along. They are going to hold a vote in the lame duck session on cutting taxes on income up to $250,000.
Steny Hoyer, the number two in the House Dem leadership, told Democrats at a caucus meeting this morning that they would get to vote this year on just extending the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, a senior Dem aide tells me, signaling support for a confrontational move towards the GOP that liberals have been pushing.
Asked if Democrats would definitely get a chance to hold this vote, the senior aide responded: “Definitely.”
Hoyer’s declaration comes as Democrats have been debating the way forward on the Bush tax cuts, and another aide tells me that “more than half” of the Dem caucus supports this course of action.
Yes, dare Republicans and bitter Blue Dogs to vote against cutting taxes for everyone (the rich also benefit from these tax cuts). If they vote no, bludgeon them with their vote to raise taxes. Hopefully Democrats will have a back-up plan if this vote fails (it very well might). This will only work if Democrats have the necessary follow-through.
*A notochord is a primitive backbone. In chordate embryos, it forms first and transforms into the spinal chord.
It is Kabuki theater to mollify the Democratic wing of the Democractic Party:
Note that there is no separate bill for the upper income cuts. Decoupling has failed.
Watch as Lucy pulls the football away again.
The mollification attempt continues as Biden issues a mea culpa:
UPDATE: Heeyyyyy, wait a minute…. What is a Senator (McConnell) doing introducing a tax bill? Something fishy here.
Obama has already said the middle class tax cuts are his top priority. This language gives a preview of the upcoming failure scenario:
The middle-class bill will fail, and Obama will sign the Republican bill that extends all the cuts, all the while expressing regret and saying that it was the only way he could deliver middle class tax cuts.
Real backbone would be a promise to kill any bill that extends the tax cuts for the rich in any form. Pelosi has already made that promise. Obama and Reid are the only other people capable of making that promise. I am not hearing it from either of them.
MSM pundits will praise Obama for his bipartisanship, and then immediately begin work on next week’s column trashing him.
Bloggers from the liberal bourgeoisie will give Obama a pass again.
I would be happy to be wrong about any of the above.
Pelosi has already made that promise.
Although, it is not totally in Pelosi’s control the way it is for Reid and Obama. I can envision a scenario in which the House passes a bill with Senate amendments that amends the upper income cuts back onto the middle class cuts.
I can’t imagine how a vote to extend tax cuts that benefit the people doing the voting will go…
then again, this is all the GOP’s fault regardless of who stands to benefit in the anals of congress
So we vote down the unemployment extension, unless it is paid for, but we keep the tax cuts??
I guess these loafers need a nice dose of living in shelters during the winter to teach them not to get laid off.
So those job creators were bidding their time to use those tax cuts actually create jobs?
Those “job creators” were too busy spending $$$$$$ on campaign commercials to use that money to create jobs. Their priority is preserving their tax breaks.