Democrats have all the numbers, all the facts, and history on their side. Democrats must immediately define the Republicans holding the middleclass tax cuts hostage to tax cuts for the rich as Class Warfare against the Middleclass. These tax cuts instituted by President Bush did nothing to enhance the income or wealth of the middleclass while the income and wealth of the top 2% skyrocketed.
The Democrats must hammer these numbers to the American citizens. After-all the previous tax rates actually saw the largest employment in history as well as a marginal decrease in poverty and middleclass income. Under the current rates the middleclass lost ground substantially in both income and wealth.
The Democrats must start making their case from a position of strength and without fear. They need to be on the side of the middleclass in no uncertain terms. Class Warfare is no longer a metaphor. It is the current reality provable by the numbers in our country. The middleclass is being pilfered.
My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
Book’s Webpage: http://books.egbertowillies.com – Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies
WASHINGTON — Just as Senate Minority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has attempted to lower expectations in recent days by saying that Republicans can’t really accomplish anything unless President Obama is voted out of office in 2012, so too did Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) set the stage on Sunday by declaring that any lack of progress in Congress — including a possible government shutdown — will be Obama’s fault.
"I would say, Chris, it’s as much as his responsibility," said Cantor in response to a question from Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace about who will be to blame for a government shutdown or a default on the debt. "In fact, he is the one who sets the agenda as the chief executive and as the president of this country."
Cantor also made clear that if there’s going to be any compromise, it’s going to have to come from Obama, who has said he is willing to work with Republicans. Cantor, however, said that Republicans will work with Obama only if he agrees with them 100 percent.
"Listen, are we willing to work with him?" said Cantor on Sunday. "First and foremost, we’re not going to be willing to work with him on the expansive liberal agenda he’s been about, but if he is serious about working with us on things like earmarks, for instance — which he said he would work with me on that — I’m absolutely hopeful we can do that. I hope he calls Harry Reid the first thing to get the Senate to go along with the House position."
Earmarks may prove tricky for the GOP caucus though, because it’s not clear that there is a unified Republican position. McConnell and Boehner have both said that they’re in favor of an earmark moratorium — a temporary suspension — but have refused to go all-out in support of a permanent ban. "You can eliminate every congressional earmark and you would save no money," admitted McConnell in a speech last week at the conservative Heritage Foundation, essentially saying that one of the top ideas touted by Republicans to cut the deficit won’t have much of an effect. When asked about a ban by Wallace on Sunday, Cantor simply replied that a moratorium was "essentially a suspension for the entire Congress."
Many Tea Party activists, however, have made a ban on earmarks a top priority, and they sharply criticized House Republican leaders when an earmark ban was not included in their Pledge to America.
On the Bush tax cuts, President Obama has indicated that he may be open to extending all of them, which is something the Republicans have been pushing for. But, his compromise would be that the middle-class tax cuts would be extended permanently, while the ones for the families making more than $250,000 would be extended temporarily. As The Washington Post explained, this "decoupling" strategy would "focus the debate when tax cuts for the rich expired next year or the year after. Republicans would be forced to defend carve-outs for a tiny minority populated by millionaires, an unpopular position that would be difficult to advance without the cover of a broad-based tax cut for everyone, aides in both parties said."
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