HuffPost TV: Howard Fineman: Obama Channeling Reagan To Avoid Becoming Carter

Senate leaders set to begin debate on tax cuts
By Lori Montgomery and Shailagh Murray Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, December 8, 2010 Senate leaders planning to begin debate as soon as Thursday on a far-reaching tax package as rank-and-file Democrats warm to an agreement between the White House and Republicans to extend a host of expiring Tax Cuts and pump fresh cash into The Economy. Democrats were still angry Wednesday about what they viewed as President Obama's capitulation to GOP demands to preserve cuts for the wealthiest Am...

Obama Economic Advisor Says Keeping Taxes Low Spurs Economic Growth, Leads to More Tax Revenue
Wednesday, December 08, 2010 By Fred Lucas In this Oct. 16, 2009, file photo, Lawrence Summers, White House chief economic adviser, speaks at the Buttonwood Gathering in New York. Summers, plans to leave the White House at the end of the year, a move that comes as the administration struggles to show an anxious public it's making progress on The Economy. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) Washington (CNSNews.com) - In an unusual argument from a Democratic administration, the director of ...

HOWARD FINEMAN: Obama Channels Reagan, and Risks Becoming Carter. Risks? The way things have been
Howard Fineman: Obama Channels Reagan, and Risks Becoming Carter. Risks? The way things have been going, it should be an aspiration. ...

Can Pragmatism Pay Off?
President Obama's deal with Republicans to temporarily extend the Bush-era Tax Cuts is under withering attack from Liberals. One congressman likened it to "Gettysburg.'' But Democrats have actually won a major battle over public spending: in exchange for Tax Cuts for the rich, they've come away with hundreds of billions of dollars in new stimulus, something that seemed impossible a week ago. Given the general drift of politics since last month's election -- the elevation of the Tea Party, the d...

The Wind Power Industry Dont Want Their Subsidies Cut Either
The bill encompassing the Bush Tax Cuts deal is becoming a bit of a Christmas Tree in Congress. Not only does it appear as though an extension of Ethanol subsidies/protectionism measures will be attached to the bill but now the wind power folks want their subsidies expanded as well warning that the industry would hemorrhage workers without them. The wind industry urged Congress on Tuesday to extend a cash grant program for production of Renewable Energy, claiming tens of thousands of jobs are at...

U.S. tax deal moves forward despite doubts (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A plan by U.S. President Barack Obama to broadly extend Tax Cuts moved forward on Wednesday despite opposition from his own Democrats and fear in bond markets of long-term damage to The Economy. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said the chamber could begin to debate the proposal to extend all Bush-era Income Tax cuts within a day or two, in a sign Democrats may be conceding on the deal. "It's further along than most people think," Reid said. "...

Why the Obama tax deal with Republicans is insane
The central premise of U.S. Economic Policy since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 has been that the people in the Private Sector who know how to invest - the rich - do a much better job allocating society’s financial resources than the Federal Government. In fact, Reagan told us in his first inaugural address, “government is the problem." In order to get as much of society’s financial resources into the hands of the rich - the people in the Private Sector who ...

White House Leaves Door Open for Possible Obama Visit to Capitol Hill on Tax Deal
President Obama has made several statements on-camera this week, even did a YouTube video for his political arm to try to sell his tax deal Compromise, but hasn't yet gone to Capitol Hill yet to speak to lawmakers face-to-face. So will the president make a cameo to the Hill? The White House didn't rule it out. "There's nothing on the president's schedule. That doesn't preclude at some point that happening," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said at a briefing Wednesday. They've largely re...

Obama's problem is Obama
No, writes Daniel Henninger, President Barack Obama will not be moving to the center: It won't happen. This president can't do it. Ghosts of the Democratic past—Hubert Humphrey, Al Smith—have been known as Happy Warriors. Barack Obama is a Class Warrior with every fiber of his being. And he isn't happy. That Monday tax deal had to be the worst day of Barack Obama's presidency. I'd be surprised if this most insouciant of presidents was able to sleep Monday after the statement he iss...

Democrats may defect from Obama's GOP tax deal
President Obama faces a mini-revolt among Massachusetts Democrats over his tax-bill Compromise with Republican leaders in Washington. All 10 of the Bay State’s U.S. House members are expressing misgivings about the deal, which would extend Bush-era Tax Cuts for two years, fund emergency Unemployment Benefits for 13 months, set higher exemption rates on estate taxes and other measures. The most stinging criticism came yesterday from U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville), who said Obama ...

Annals of "compromise," Wednesday edition: Billionaires rally for the presidents tax-cut plan
America's favorite Billionaire: Thurston Howell III, whose son, Thurston Howell IV, is a big supporter of the president's plan by Ken As I pointed out last night, here once again we turn -- for insight into the news behind the news -- to our daily fix of Andy Borowitz. BOROWITZ REPORT DECEMBER 8, 2010 Wealthiest .0000001% Hail Tax Deal Billionaires Praise Obama Move Geneva (The Borowitz Report) - President Obama's deal to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for the rich drew rave reviews today from the w...

House Democrats push through bill to legalize children of illegals
Riding a late White House push and driven by impassioned pleas by Children of Illegal Immigrants, House Democrats on Wednesday night forced through a bill that would legalize hundreds of thousands of Children and young adults brought here illegally by their parents. Wednesday's victory is likely to be short-lived, since Republicans have vowed to Filibuster the bill in the Senate, which would end immigrant rights advocates' last, best chance for legalization for the foreseeable future. Still, for...

Obamas Liberal Backers Pulling Financial Support After Tax-Cut Deal
Mr. Galt on Breaking: DREAM Act Passes The House 216-198… (SF Gate)- Some of President Obama’s most liberal supporters are threatening to stop volunteering their time and money for his re-election after he compromised on a key campaign promise by cutting a deal with Republicans to preserve the Bush-era Tax Cuts. More than half of the people who contributed to Obama’s 2008 campaign say the tax deal makes them less likely to contribute to his re-election effort , accor...

Missing The Point In A Major Way...
I noted this morning that Obama's strategy going forward will be to position himself as Washington's lone resident adult in a town full of squabbling Children on right and left, and at his presser just now, Obama offered a surprisingly stern, and even angry, rebuke to his liberal critics that will generate a fair amount of discussion. Outside of Alexander Haig's "I'm in charge here" moment following the shooting of Ronald Reagan, I can't think of a single more disas...

Ore. GOP funding partial re-count in governor race
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Republicans are funding a test re-count of the votes for Governor in three Multnomah County precincts, aiming to see whether major irregularities turn up that would warrant a broader re-count. The Republicans are putting up “a few thousand dollars” for the re-count, to take place Monday. It will involve a token number of ballots — 8,347 in a county that Democrat John Kitzhaber carried by 121,000 on his way to defeating Republican Chris Dudley ...

&c;
-- Changes at The New Republic. -- Mark Zandi on the Tax Cut deal. -- Even Dubya's dad is urging Republicans to ratify the START Treaty. ...

New report: Nearly half of elderly will experience poverty
Let's review for a moment. The White House and Senate are negotiation to keep the wealthiest of Americans happy, and potentially increase taxes for lower income people, while creating a Social Security timebomb with the "temporary" Payroll Tax holiday (since when was "temporary Tax Cuts" in Republicans' vocabulary?). Against that backdrop, a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis sounds a huge warning bell for America's seniors, current and future. Nearly half of ...

Sen.-elect (Rand Paul) on tax deal: I'm leaning against it
Source: CNN Kentucky's Senator-elect Rand Paul says that if he were already in Congress he would lean against voting for the recently announced tax deal. In an interview airing on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" Wednesday at 6 p.m ET, Paul expresses strong opinions about the Deficit, spending, and the tax deal proposed by President Barack Obama. "The most important thing government can do right now for The Economy is to extend the Bush Tax Cuts. I would be for extending them permane...

Larry Summers: No Tax Deal Could Spur Double-Dip Recession
Summers: If they don't pass this bill in the next couple of weeks "it would materially increase the risk The Economy would stall out" Associated Press President Barack Obama appealed anew for Congress to "get this done" and insisted that more congressional Democrats would climb aboard as they studied details of the $900 billion year-end measure. Several did announce support on Wednesday, but at least one said there still was "a mood to resist." Larry Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser, t...

Inside Obama's Tax-Cut Gamble
Liberals are furious over the White House decision to extend all the Bush Tax Cuts. But behind the scenes, Obama pushed Democrats for a better way. Howard Kurtz on the president’s frustrations....

As Democrats soften opposition, Senate set to begin debate on tax cuts
WASHINGTON -- Senate leaders plan to begin debate as soon as today on a far-reaching tax package as rank-and-file Democrats warm to an agreement between the White House and Republicans to extend a host of expiring Tax Cuts and pump fresh cash into The Economy. Democrats were still angry Wednesday about what they viewed as President Barack Obama's capitulation to GOP demands to preserve cuts for the wealthiest Americans, particularly a deal to exempt estates worth as much as $10 million from a r...

Most Popular Pol Poll
A new Gallup Poll ranks the popularity of American presidents, and taking the number one spot with an 85% Approval Rating is that “liberal” the Conservatives love-to-hate, John F. Kennedy. The lore of Camelot “has legs” as they say, even to today’s generation. In close proximity with a 74% approval number, is that darling of the Right, Ronald Reagan. In the “Place” position, Bill Clinton has nudged out Jimmy Carter from last year. Carter still makes the ...

Dear Mary: You voted for the Bush tax cuts
This was some tough talk from Mary Landrieu yesterday -- but there's a catch: Though some conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans praised the plan, conservative Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) attacked it harshly, calling the extension of Bush Tax Cuts for wealthy Americans 'morally corrupt.' "What is new to me is a concept that we're going to borrow $46 billion according to the Obama-McConnell plan -- and that's what I'm calling it...we're going to borrow 46 billion from the poor, from the m...

Dollar softens to upper 83 yen in Tokyo as U.S. tax cuts digested+
TOKYO, Dec. 9 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The U.S. dollar weakened slightly to the upper 83 yen range Thursday morning in Tokyo, taking a respite from The Dollar buying triggered by a surge in U.S. long-term Interest Rates following a U.S. Tax Cut deal. At noon, The Dollar traded at 83.79-83 yen against 83.99-84.09 yen in New York and 83.87-88 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The euro changed hands at $1.3306-3310 and 111.49-56 yen versus $1.3258-3268 and 111.38-48 yen in New York and $1.3207-3208 an...

Obama is the Reincarnated Jimmy Carter
We’ve heard that quote a lot from the right; that Obama’s sheer incompetence is rivaling that of our 39th President. However, the source of my most recent encounter with this idea will come as a bit of a shock; a liberal academic. I was talking today with one of my history Professors. He is an admitted liberal, who has a pretty good grasp of what is going on, and I respect his opinions and he respects mine. Anyways, we were talking about the tax-cuts for Unemployment Benefits de...