Bush Tax Cuts: Democrats Set Themselves Up

Life has a way of getting even with you for past attempts to game the system. Just ask the Democrats. In the matter of the Bush Tax Cuts, we see this karmic axiom playing itself out with a vengeance. What a shame.

For starters, in case you didn’t know, Obama and the Republicans agreed yesterday to a deal that will keep the Bush Tax Cuts in place for another two years. . . right into the 2012 election (violating Obama's biggest campaign promise). I am not a fan of those tax cuts because they are simply more of the same in our twisted tax system of carve outs, exceptions and favors; I would prefer a completely revised tax code. But they are better than nothing, so I will take them.

The Democrats, however, HATE them. Indeed, they hate the very word “cut” (which confuses them) and the fact that a single “rich person” (anyone with a job) will be “allowed” to keep what they’ve earned. Grrrrrr. And if you want to know why, check out this lunatic quote from Minnesota Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison: “think about what we could do with $700 billion instead of just giving it to people to buy luxury items.” Right, think about the unions that could be bailed out, the money that could be sent overseas, or spent on paying for abortions or blasphemous art, or siphoned off by Charlie Rangel and friends, or given to corporate donors. Yes, think about what the Democrats could do if we only let them rob us blind.

In any event, what truly galls the Democrats is that this deal is entirely the result of their own prior bad decisions catching up to them -- something which pathologically bothers Democrats, who believe in a consequence free world. Consider this:

First, they originally called these “the Bush Tax Cuts” because they wanted to tar the Republicans as the party of the evil rich. Now it bothers them that Bush is getting credit for something they will be forced to pass, and which the public believes must be passed to prevent economic ruin. Curses!

Secondly, they created this problem when they agreed to the idea that these tax cuts would need to be renewed. These tax cuts were originally passed to stimulate the economy and stave off recession. But the Democrats got cute about it. They figured the economy would be running at full steam by now and, thus, the public would be happy to let the tax cuts expire. Instead, the economy has “inexplicably” faltered and the Democrats now find themselves jammed up by their decision to make these temporary.

Third, that “inexplicable” I just mentioned isn’t really all that inexplicable. History has shown that when governments let recessions play out, they end fairly quickly. But Democratic policies have injected a great deal of anti-stimulus, fear and uncertainty into the economy, causing the recovery to sputter, die and never quite arrive. Thus, the need to extend these tax cuts continues because the Democrats interfered with the economy.

Fourth, by choosing to run wild to the left during the past two years, the Democrats squandered any goodwill they had with the public. Not only were they tossed out en masse, but the public has done a complete 180 on their policies. If they had been more sensible, the public might have listened to them on this issue. But as it is, no one will listen.

Fifth, the Democrats are whining that they were sold out by Barack Obama. As I’ve discussed many times before, Obama has a penchant for selling out his allies (except his union friends) in almost every instance. . . gays, environmentalists, socialists, anti-Wall Street types, foreign policy utopians, etc. This is the result of the Democrats picking an empty suit with no experience and no apparent ideological depth. When you buy a black box, you have no idea what you are getting, and Obama was the ultimate black box. Once again, their own choices come back to bite them.

And make no mistake, the Democrats are furious at Obama. New York Democrat Anthony Weiner compared this deal to “punting on 3rd down -- it seems the president is not seeing the value of being on offense.” One unnamed Democrat said: “What the hell? Could we have a little fight before we cave? Why go right to surrender?” Jim McDermott of the Ways and Means Committee, said: “We're going to find out exactly what this president is all about. . . . This is the president's Gettysburg. He's going to have to decide whether he's going to withstand Pickett's Charge . . . I worry.” Bernie Sanders said he would “do everything I can to stop the deal.” And so on.

They’ve even dug up psychologists to assess Obama (a nasty trick usually reserved for people like Hitler, serial killers, and noted Republicans). Their conclusion? Obama let himself be bullied. . . as if the President of the United States could be bullied!

Finally, we come to Dingy Harry’s attempt last year to sabotage what appeared to be a likely Republican majority. When it looked like the Senate was lost, the Dinge decided not to pass a complete budget because that would rob the Republicans of the power to use reconciliation as the Democrats had done to circumvent the filibuster. Without that power now, the Senate cannot push through the House version of the Bush Tax Cuts, which only continues tax cuts for Democratic voters. That shifted the power to the minority, i.e. the Republicans, and meant Obama had to strike a deal.

Nothing angers a Democrat more than being tripped up by their prior attempts to trip up the other guys. And nothing unifies and excites them more than having an enemy to hate. And in this case, that enemy is Barack Obama because he’s apparently not a team player and he put the good of the country ahead of the angry politics of the Democratic Party.

This is going to be an interesting two years.

(FYI, House Democrats are now threatening to vote down the deal.)