And they wanted the Republicans to do this ahead of the post-election lame duck session — when (obviously) all of them would regrettably cave to the billionaires who just financed their $2,000,000,000 combined ad buy (not including the primaries).
So that was the presumed offer on the table — $250,000 incomes and below get their Bush (and Obama) tax cuts renewed; they still have no jobs, but their taxes won't go up.
Then Nancy Pelosi pre-emptively moved the bar from that measly $250,000 to a full $1,000,000.
What was going on, we asked? Was Pelosi off the Dem reservation, doing a Cory Booker so to speak, and speaking out of turn?
Or was she front-running for Obama? (My bet was front-running, but that's me. I think if you notice what Dems actually accomplish, you have to admit they're good at it.)
Now comes Pelosi again to explain. Writing in USA Today, she renews her offer to Republicans to extend the Bush–Obama tax cuts for incomes below a full $1,000,000. Doubling down, as it were (my emphasis and some reparagraphing):
Democrats have always opposed the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Since President Obama's election, we have repeatedly called for an end to tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year.Here's how to read that, in my opinion. By acknowledging Obama's role and former bargaining position, Pelosi seems to be speaking for the whole Dem team ("we"), including Obama himself. Either that or Nancy has some serious 'spaining to do.
Republicans have rejected this effort, holding tax relief for the middle class and small businesses hostage to permanent tax breaks for millionaires, Big Oil, and corporations that ship jobs overseas.
Democrats are committed to moving the process forward by asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share through the expiration of tax cuts for those earning over $1 million a year.
Pelosi will walk that back (don't hold your breath) or Obama's on board. Count on it.
Note, for good measure, Pelosi also doubles down on her confirmation of Simpson-Bowles Catfood-for-Gran:
Democrats are committed to using the significant savings to reduce the deficit. And in the future, Democrats are committed to reforming the tax code, closing special interest loopholes. Democrats and President Obama have supported a grand bargain to spur our economy and reduce our deficit[.]More with the Grand Bargain.
It's coming, folks. Not only do all the elites want to send as much manufacturing overseas as they can (why else would Dems not fight for alternate-energy manufacturing in the U.S.?).
All the elites also want to fix your "broken" safety net. Not enough holes in it, I guess.
It's a two-fer for their billionaire masters — your jobs off to cheap-labor countries (so the billionaires get more money) and your safety net in shreds (so the billionaires get more money).
Tick-tick-tick.
[UPDATE: Some phrases tweaked for clarity.]
GP
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