I Guess We Have Our Answer

WASHINGTON – President Obama will rule out on Wednesday any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said, adding a populist twist to an election-season economic package that is otherwise designed to entice support from big businesses and their Republican allies.


Mr. Obama’s opposition to allowing the high-end tax cuts to remain in place for even another year or two would be the signal many Congressional Democrats have been awaiting as they prepare for a showdown with Republicans on the issue and ends speculation that the White House might be open to an extension. Democrats say only the president can rally wavering lawmakers who, amid the party’s weakened poll numbers, feel increasingly vulnerable to Republican attacks if they let the top rates lapse at the end of this year as scheduled.

NYTimes

Some days it really is good to be an Obama Democrat

Some Perspective From Mos Def

Mos Def keeps it real with Bill Maher on the subject of President Obama's answer to the question about legalizing weed.



His voice is irritating as hell but Mos Def makes good point. There really was no other way for President Obama to handle the situation aside from just ignoring the question which I think would have been a betrayal. He can't speak seriously about the subject when he is trying to get his budget passed and people are calling THAT radical.

Stephen Walt's Reaction

Stephen Walt posted his own reaction to Chas Freeman's withdrawal on his blog. Among other things he took President Obama to task for not standing by Freeman. Honestly I agree 100% with at least that part of his post and as I said over on Swampland I feel like it was a straight up bitch move by the President. I voted for President Obama and I support him, but at some point you have to show some damn loyalty for someone other than Tom Daschle if you expect people in your administration to show love back. Or for that matter if you expect to earn the respect of your detractors. This episode will be seen as a sign of weakness to the political opponents of President Obama and I only hope that he doesn't let that meme fester and grow.