Geithner: We want to expire tax cuts on the highest 2–3%

Back to taxes for a minute. Here's Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Meet the Press, July 25 (my emphasis):

I'll say what the president believes, and I believe this, is the right thing for the country, the fair thing, the responsible thing for the country now is to make sure we leave in place and preserve tax cuts that go to more than 95 percent of working Americans and complement those with a set of incentives for businesses to expand and hire. To make that possible, and to do that responsibly, I think it is fair and good policy to allow those tax cuts that only go to 2 to 3 percent of the highest earners in the country to expire as scheduled. The country can withstand that. The economy can withstand that. I think it's good policy.

So the Treasury Secretary is using high-profile MTP to push expiring the top end of the deadly Bush tax cuts. Three points:

• This is a very promising first step, since Geithner says explicitly he speaks for the president.
  
  
• The Bush tax cuts expire on December 31, 2010.
  
  
• There's an election in November, prior to the expiration, and Dems are already promising not to be "bad" (read, "effective") during the lame-duck Congress.

If you want to keep your party in power through 2016, Mr. President — keep your word. Please. Your credibility is already razor-thin, and Occam's Switchblade is watching.

GP

(A note to commenters on the earlier version of this post — thanks!)