Mary Landrieu: 'Obama-McConnell Plan' Is 'Almost Morally Corrupt'

Mary Landrieu: 'Obama-McConnell Plan' Is 'Almost Morally Corrupt'
Source: Huffington Post WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mary Landrieu, a conservative Democratic from Louisiana, lashed out Tuesday at President Obama's deal with congressional Republicans that allows Tax Cuts for the wealthy to be extended for two years. Extending the Tax Cuts for those making more than a million dollars a year is borderline immoral, Landrieu charged. "I'm going to argue forcefully for the nonsensicalness and the almost, you know, moral corruptness of that particular policy," said Landrieu,...

Landrieu Blasts 'Obama-McConnell' Plan For Selling Out Black Voters
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) blasted President Obama's Tax Cut Compromise yesterday. She decried the "moral corruptness" of the idea of giving wealthy Americans a Tax Cut extension on the backs of poor and Middle Class workers. To many, it came out of nowhere. After all, she voted for these tax cuts back in 2001, and, by her own admission, isn't really known for taking on progressive causes against the center and the right. But check out this portion of her criticisms of the plan, which went unre...

Senate leader sees tax cut action within days
WASHINGTON—The top Senate Democrat says members of his party are looking at President Barack Obama's Tax Cut deal to see if they can make some changes, and action could come within days. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Majority Leader, says the Senate could move to take up a Tax Cut agreement "fairly quickly ... in the next day or two." His remarks came after an hours-long closed-door meeting among Democrats about the plan, and not long after Obama, in comments at the White House, implored...

Reid optimistic on 'Don't ask,' tax deal approval
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday expressed optimism that the chamber will approve the tax-cut deal struck between President Obama and congressional Republicans, as well as a Defense Department policy that Repeals the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” rule.   Speaking at a mid-afternoon Press Conference just hours before a key procedural vote on the DADT repeal, Reid said the Tax Cut deal should receive a successful vote in the next “day or two,” and th

Recession risk without tax deal - Summers
WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 8, 2010 4:01pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Failure by the Congress to pass a Tax Cut deal soon would "materially increase" the risk of The Economy stalling and a Double Dip Recession, White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on Wednesday. Summers, who is leaving his post as Obama's top economic adviser this month, said Obama's deal with Republicans to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the Middle Class and the wealthiest Americans would provide more fiscal support for the...

Senate leader sees tax cut action within days
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Senate Democrat says members of his party are looking at President Barack Obama’s Tax Cut deal to see if they can make some changes, and action could come within days. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Majority Leader, says the Senate could move to take up a Tax Cut agreement “fairly quickly … in the next day or two.” His remarks came after an hours-long closed-door meeting among Democrats about the plan, and not long after Obama, in comments ...

Senate leader sees tax cut action within days
The top Senate Democrat says members of his party are looking at President Barack Obama's Tax Cut deal to see if they can make some changes, and action could come within days. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Majority Leader, says the Senate could move to take up a Tax Cut agreement "fairly quickly ... in the next day or two." His remarks came after an hours-long closed-door meeting among Democrats about the plan, and not long after Obama, in comments at the White House, implored Congress to "get ...

Harry, We Hardly Knew Ye
The NY Times reports on the negotiations that led to Obama's infamous tax deal.  The key was the de-Reidification of the Senate negotiations: Biden and G.O.P. Leader Helped Hammer Out Bipartisan Tax Accord By CARL HULSE and JACKIE CALMES WASHINGTON — As a bipartisan group of Congressional tax writers opened widely watched negotiations last Wednesday over what to do about expiring Tax Cuts, a secret set of tax talks was taking place just steps off the Senate floor. Senator Mitch Mc...

Sen. Mary Landrieu: Allowing Wealthy Americans to Keep Their Money Is Almost Morally Corrupt
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) went on a tangent yesterday after Barack Obama announced he would extend the current Tax Rates. The true democrat told reporters that the agreement between Obama and Republican leaders to keep the current tax rates was “almost morally corrupt.” Note: This is the same democrat who defended her decision to work out a $100 million Louisiana Purchase deal for her ObamaCare vote and told Republicans to shut up about it. Landreiu believes it is “almost m...

Larry Summers: If Tax Deal Goes Down There's A 'Significant Risk' Of A Double Dip Recession
Source: Huffington Post Senior White House officials significantly raised the stakes on congressional Democrats in their efforts to get a deal passed on the Bush Tax Cuts, warning on Wednesday that inaction would "significantly increase the risk" of a Double Dip Recession. It wasn't quite the metaphorical flare of mushroom cloud imagery, but outgoing senior economic adviser Larry Summers offered a fairly dire assessment of the stakes in the tax cut debate. "If they don't pass this bi...

Mary Landrieu Sounds Like She Has Come to Play as Well
Ryan Grim: Mary Landrieu: 'Obama-McConnell Plan' Is 'Almost Morally Corrupt': Mary Landrieu, a conservative Democratic from Louisiana, lashed out Tuesday at President Obama's deal with congressional Republicans that allows Tax Cuts for the wealthy to be extended for two years. Extending the Tax Cuts for those making more than a million dollars a year is borderline immoral, Landrieu charged. "I'm going to argue forcefully for the nonsensicalness and the almost, you know, moral corruptness of th...

Steven Pearlstein - Now that ice is broken, maybe next Obama deal with Republicans will come easier
Well, it's not exactly how I would have done it. This Story A deal for Obama, but the wrong sort of drama Obama's Tax Cut extension part of strategy to show Bipartisanship Facing frustration from Democrats, Obama defends tax cuts deal This Story The Take: The Take: Obama charts his own course Angry Democrats rebel against Obama's tax-cut deal with Republicans In the Loop: Rice, on 'The View,' defends Obama on Wikileaks A deal for Obama, but the wrong sort of drama View All Items in This Story...

Polis draws heat over Obama tax cut deal
Progressive Watchdog blogger Jane Hamsher reports that Colorado Congressman Jared Polis argued passionately at a Democratic Congressional Caucus meeting Tuesday in favor of the White House deal with GOP leaders to temporarily extend Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthiest Americans in exchange for an extension of Middle Class Tax Breaks as well as some but not all Unemployment Insurance benefits. Yet Congressional Staffers told the Colorado Independent that Polis, like many other members of the caucus...

White House, Hill Dems Spar over Tax Deal
It’s Day 3 of reactions to the Obama-GOP tax Compromise, and Democrats do not appear ready to hold hands and sing Kumbaya together anytime soon — and that may be exactly what the White House hoped would happen. President Obama told reporters this afternoon, according to Politico, that “it is inaccurate to characterize Democrats writ large as feeling, quote-unquote, betrayed. I think the more they look at it, the more of them are going to say, ‘This makes sense.’&rdq...;

A What-If on the Bush Tax Cuts
In retrospect, an extension of the high-end Bush Tax Cuts seems to have become inevitable shortly after Labor Day. When Congress returned from its August recess, some Democrats and White House officials were pushing for a vote on the tax cuts. But other Democrats didn’t like the idea. They thought a vote in the heat of the midterm campaign would hurt Democrats running in tough races. So Obama Administration officials and Congressional leaders delayed the issue until after the election. The...

More Democratic Moonbattery
by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA If nothing else one at least can get a chuckle now and again from Democrats and their oft-tendency to make - well, putting it nicely - ridiculous statements. Senator Mary Landrieu's remarks on the deal Obama cut with Republicans to extend the Bush era tax relief is a prescient example of this. “We’re going to borrow $46 billion from the poor, from the middle-class, from businesses of all sizes basically, to give a Tax Cut to families in America...

Obama Facing Tough Sell in Own Party on Tax Deal
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Wednesday rejected claims that he betrayed Democrats by cutting a deal with Republicans on Bush-era Tax Cuts and implored his party to back the Compromise, arguing it could jump-start The Economy. Speaking to reporters at a joint appearance with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, Obama said Economists predict higher job growth in 2011 and 2012 if Congress passes the agreement and urged lawmakers to examine the details of the deal and "get t...

White House adviser says tax deal vital to economy
WASHINGTON (AP) - White House economic adviser Larry Summers says that failure to pass a new Tax Cut Compromise would significantly raise the risk of a Double-Dip Recession. Summers says he thinks Congress will pass the deal President Barack Obama struck with Republicans—notwithstanding Democrats' heartburn over the two-year extension of tax cuts for the rich as well as the Middle Class. Summers told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he doesn't think that Congress would take ...

Rep. Peter Welch: 'We dont know whether we couldve gotten a better outcome'
Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) is leading the charge in the House against President Obama's tax-cut deal. The problem, he says, isn't just the deal itself, but the process that led to it. We spoke this afternoon, and a lightly edited transcript of our conversation follows. Ezra Klein: Tell me your concerns with the deal. Peter Welch: The context for the House Democrats is that this was presented after the president made his deal with the Republican leadership. But in terms of policy, the central issu...

Larry Summers: Fumble on tax deal would raise risk of double-dip recession
WASHINGTON — White House economic adviser Larry Summers says that failure to pass a new Tax Cut Compromise would significantly raise the risk of a Double-Dip Recession. Summers says he thinks Congress will pass the deal President Barack Obama struck with Republicans — notwithstanding Democrats’ heartburn over the two-year extension of tax cuts for the rich as well as the Middle Class. Summers told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he doesn’t think that Congr...

Energy incentives to sweeten tax bill?
A pot of sweeteners in the form of tax extenders for pet energy industries could help ease the bitter pill that Democrats may have to swallow if they agree to the tax deal President Barack Obama and Republicans carved out. The expiring tax incentives designed to boost Ethanol and other energy industries might be enough to attract Democratic votes to extend the Bush-era Tax Cuts for two years. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 “It could,” said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mi...

The Deal
Piss, meet wind. I'm with James Fallows, channeling John Kerry. This is the argument Democrats should have and should be making, without Apology: "You care about Unemployment? We're committed to extending benefits that can help families stay above water, hold onto their houses if possible, and have at least some spending power as they keep looking for work. You need a Tax Break in a Recession? We agree -- we want to cut taxes for every household in the country. And that's why we're in a fight wi...

Larry Summers says tax cut deal must pass soon to avoid 'double dip'
Top White House economic adviser Larry Summers warned of a "Double-Dip Recession" if Congress doesn't pass President Obama's Tax Cut agreement soon. "If they do not pass this in the next couple of weeks, it will materially increase the risk of The Economy stalling out and that we would have a double-dip," Summers told reporters at a briefing at the White House on Wednesday afternoon. A "Double Dip" is the term used for a cycle that includes a Recession, then months of Economic Growth followed ...

Reid says tax bill nears completion
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday said the Obama-Republican proposal to extend all Bush-era Tax Cuts could move quickly in the Senate, in a sign Democrats may be conceding on the deal. "It's further along than most people think," Reid said. "I don't think there is a great more to be done on that." His remarks were in contrast to his characterization on Tuesday to reporters that the tax proposal was "only a framework&q...;

Republicans block tax cuts for US middle class
WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama's Republican foes in the Senate have blocked a move to let Bush-era Tax Cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire, rejecting in the process Democrats' efforts to extend those breaks just for the Middle Class. Obama said he was "very disappointed" at the vote. "It makes no sense to hold Tax Cuts for the middle class hostage to permanent Tax Cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans," he added. In a rare weekend se...