Mark This Down

Trey Smith

Barack Obama adopted a tougher approach to the fiscal cliff showdown on Wednesday when he made an unequivocal pledge that he will not cave in to Republican demands for tax cuts for the wealthy.

Apparently emboldened by his election victory and free from the pressure of another campaign, Obama told a White House press conference that while almost everything else was up for discussion, the wealthiest Americans would have to pay their share.

During last year's showdown with Republican leaders in Congress that almost brought Washington to a standstill, Obama was forced to accept a compromise just days before Christmas that included extending tax cuts for the richest Americans, introduced by George W Bush.

Asked at the press conference if he could offer an assurance that he would not cave in again, Obama said: "What I said at the time is what I meant. Which is: this was a one-time proposition. What I have told leaders privately as well as publicly is that we can not afford to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy."
~ from Obama Talks Tough Over Fiscal Cliff and Refuses to Buckle on GOP Tax Demands by Ewen MacAskill ~

We've been down this road once before, so it will be interesting to see if we wind up in the same place! I'm laying odds at 50/50.

However, even if he does hold to this pledge, that does not mean that the final brokered deal will be very fair to most of us or that it will get this nation's economy moving in a better direction. I suspect the tradeoff he will offer conservatives for allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire is to gouge Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Food Stamps (among other things).

So, while the egregiously wealthy may find that they are paying a wee bit more in taxes, the rest of us will lose so many basic services that we still remain behind the proverbial eight ball.