Dems angry over Obama tax deal talk

By: Carrie Budoff Brown
Politico.com
November 11, 2010

For almost a decade in Democratic politics, there was little disagreement: If you were running for office, you wanted do away with the Bush tax cuts for high-end earners.

Now, in the eyes of liberal and moderate Democrats alike, President Barack Obama has blinked — even before the new House Republican majority takes office.

Between Obama’s weekly address Saturday and comments Wednesday by his senior adviser David Axelrod, the White House has made clear that it intends to compromise — ceding to Republican demands to extend the high-end tax cuts temporarily in exchange for renewing the middle-class tax cuts due to expire at year’s end.

“The president should have stood firm on the expiration of the tax cuts on upper-income earners,” said Jim Kessler, vice president for policy at Third Way, a centrist think tank. “First, I don’t think it is good for our economy right now. There are better uses for the money in the short term. ... Second, we can’t afford it. It just means tax increases for future generations. And third, I think the president had the upper hand.”

(More here.)