Democrats have no choice but to accept an irresponsible tax deal

By Eugene Robinson
WashPost
Friday, December 10, 2010;

Approve the lousy deal.

It pains me to write those words, because the agreement President Obama negotiated with Republicans on tax cuts is really quite awful. I know that some progressives have come to see the package as a cleverly disguised "second stimulus," but they're just rationalizing. The fact is that nobody would start from scratch and design an economic boost offering so little bang for so many bucks.

For a two-year cost of nearly $1 trillion, we get a bit more than $300 billion worth of measures that are truly stimulative: a cut in the payroll tax, a provision allowing businesses to write off capital investment and an extension of unemployment benefits. We'll spend the rest - I should say borrow the rest, then spend it - to continue existing tax breaks that obviously are not roaring engines of job growth.

The deal invests basically nothing in the nation's future. We need to be channeling money into education and clean energy, where it can help the United States remain competitive against China and other economic rivals - not into the well-stuffed bank accounts of the rich.

Yet congressional Democrats have no real choice but to hold their noses, approve the thing and live to fight another day. The opportunity to shape a better deal - one without those unnecessary, unfair and supremely galling tax cuts for households making more than $250,000 a year - is long gone.

(More here.)