Credit Where Credit is Due

My last post was a blasting of the Jobs speech by President Obama. Of my many concerns, my most damning one was over the math. When he proposed paying for it by letting the "Super Congress" find the money, that meant that it would be paid for by cuts that would affect all of us, because you know that "Stupor Congress" will not raise a nickel in new revenue. And with over half of the bill in the form of tax cuts, that would mean we would ultimately pay for another 300 billion in tax cuts for big business.

Then, this last Monday, the President changed his tune. Usually, this means he is weakening his position in order to agree full-throatedly with Republicans. But, credit where credit is due, he stood strong. In fact, he turned up the heat. He insisted that the undertaxed rich could pony up a few more coppers each to pay for this legislation.

I like it.

I like that he had specifics. He proposed taxing hedge fund managers like normal people. He proposed limiting deductions on families making over a quarter million a year. He proposed canceling taxpayer  subsidies for the large uber-profitable oil companies. These are things that a liberal president should be for.

They will also make Republicans turn green.

But that is good politics. Now, Fox news and the Republican talking-point machine have made powerful imprints on the national psyche. But their imprint does not poll well, and will be very hard for most Republicans to defend over and over and over. If the Dems run ads in all the Republican districts that show a Wall Street hedge fund villain lighting a cigar with a fan of hundreds, and then split the screen with that district's closed factory or food bank with empty shelves - damn, that will be pressure. Republicans are already having awful times at their town meetings, with people asking them about jobs, and telling them to tax the rich. And there is, unfortunately, no liberal equivalent of the Tea Party. These are their constituents who are pissed about being poor and jobless while the money flows upward.

And it heartens the base. When the President says "pass this bill, right away," and goes after a Republican party that openly despises the average working American, we feel glad that someone with power is finally fighting for us. If he keeps at it, he will change the message away from "deficits" and "spending" to "jobs." And "jobs" will become synonymous with the kind of government stimulus that he is proposing. The idea, that Obama has endorsed at times, that cutting taxes and spending is the way to economic recovery will give way to the idea that the government needs to take action to pull its people out of the economic morass.

Look, I still strongly disagree with the proposed bill. Over half tax cuts will not get it done. The trade agreements will not result in job one, and are largely tax shelters for the fortune 500. But if hedge fund managers pay for it, then I'll take it, along with the 200 billion in infrastructure and teachers hired. Unlike the claims of the Obama cultists, liberals like me who criticize the President don't want the perfect over the good. We just want some of the good.

Here's what I will watch for - as one who has been disappointed over and over again by this White House. I will watch for a back-track. I will listen carefully for a White House spokesperson to come out and say that "what the President meant was that maybe hedge fund managers could chip in a little, but that ultimately the Super Congress will decide..." or something like that. That means here we go again. I will also watch and see if the President quickly agrees to sign the tax cut parts of this bill now, and say he will fight for the other parts going forward. If that happens, we've been fucked. And I say we've been fucked because this President just doesn't fight (unless it's to kill a progressive proposal), and this was all a sham to slip through another 300 billion in tax cuts for big business.

I would rather he got none of this bill, than just the Republican-approved parts. If he uses the bill as a blunt instrument, it may not even save his presidency, but it could flip a lot of seats in the House. There are over 60 Republicans in districts that voted for Obama in 2008. These are not massively red districts, and could go blue with a strong, populist message centered around jobs, and how the Republicans have done nothing to create them, after running on jobs in 2010. I'd rather, in this case, to have the good be the enemy of the lame.

I want a fight. I want my President to fight. He's sounding like he finally wants to fight the opposition, and I like the sound. "No tax cuts of ANY KIND without stimulus!" should be the rallying cry. If the Republicans kill it, then beat them senseless for a year with it, and watch them lose. In reality, beat them senseless for a couple of months, and watch them start to flip. Watch as the pressure mounts at those town halls, on the forums, and maybe even on cable news. Watch those fuckers fold when someone finally hits them in the face.

I want good policy, and I think the President's proposal is luke-warm policy, at best, but has good parts. But I am partisan, and I want good politics too. As a liberal, I want a strong liberal counter-punch to conservative devastation to the nation. Fighting on jobs is great politics - IF the Dems, led by Obama, stay strong. Jobs is the issue that Americans care most about, and the Republicans are on the wrong side of the issue.

Stay strong!


****Late update to this post****
The Huffington Post has an article that says, uhg, that says the President will sign what the Republicans agree with, and fight for the rest after. God dammit.