“Republicans didn’t create permanent cuts when they had the chance in 2002. Their daring strategy raised the stakes, but they didn’t get the cards they need. Game over.
“Yet the conservative movement, Boehner, the media, and—most amazingly of all, many leaders in the Democratic Party—are still playing. Boehner delivered a post-election speech calling for tax reform that would put the top marginal income tax rate even lower than it is today. Sen. Chuck Schumer says Democrats will work with the business community to persuade Boehner to change his mind.”
Let me unbaffle you, Matt. Politicians often find it easy to say they’re going to do something, and then find it hard to do it. Democrats have been saying that they’re going to raise taxes on the rich since 2006, yet somehow they’ve yet to even take a vote on the matter. Raising taxes on the rich is “wildly popular,” as liberals like to say, but not among the rich themselves. And politicians, even Democrats, and even Obama, are slow to really piss off the rich. I suspect that much of the President’s languor in the first debate reflected a desire not to offend the Boca Raton crowd. Mitt’s “47 percent” remarks were a stick sent from heaven, and Obama didn’t even touch it. I myself would love to see the Bush tax cuts expire in toto, but that’s a stick Obama will never swing. Pundits like Matt love to fantasize about table stakes confrontations, but real politicians know that if you go for broke, well, you’ll get broke, in a hurry. Obama wants to raise taxes on the rich, but he wants to make Boehner take responsibility for the increases as well. And that’s a favor Boehner is never going to do for free.
