Legal Commentary

Obama To GOP: Stop Holding Middle Class Tax Cuts Hostage

By Big Tent Democrat

President Obama, hampered by political buffoons in the Democratic Congress, is sticking to his guns:

"I am urging the leaders of the other party to stop holding middle class tax cuts hostage and extend this relief to families immediately."

Obama can not say what we all know -- that a large part of his problem right now is found at Dem headquarters in the Congress. Josh Marshall explains:

There's no 'fall' to take. It's as simple as that. And frankly, there are really no legislative tricks that should be necessary. This is not a matter of the House Democrats need to stick their chin out and worry that the Senate won't back them up.

Who cares? They don't need the Senate to back them up. This isn't a matter of saying legislators need to be brave and suck it up and do the right thing regardless of the consequences. This is something -- just holding the vote -- they should want to do for the most mercenary of reasons -- because it helps them politically and hurts their Republican opponents. The fact that it's good for the economy, good for the people struggling most in the recession, and good for the longterm health of the economy is just gravy on top.

Strictly in political terms, even if nothing else happens, the Democrats (should) want to have that vote in the House. If the Senate acts and it becomes law, great. But still good for the Democrats even if that doesn't happen. That's because -- and it's worrisome that people don't get this -- this isn't like the climate bill. Get real. The climate bill wasn't popular. Should have been popular. Was popular when you explained it to people in polls in highly structured questions. But lots of members of Congress weren't willing to vote for it because they knew they'd pay a price politically. This bill is popular. [. . .]In this case, in political terms, as opposed to policy terms, it's largely irrelevant whether the Senate gets to or passes the bill.