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It seems the Democrats are grudgingly resigned to the passage of the tax cut bill. Bernie Saunders' near nine-hour impassioned filibuster notwithstanding, I guess we're getting used to disappointment.
As Time Magazine reports:
"After a chilly initial reception from Democrats, the White House appears to have garnered enough bipartisan support to secure the $858 billion bill's safe passage through a turbulent Congress. Democratic leaders in both houses signaled Sunday that their caucuses were prepared to swallow the accord's unpalatable provisions to safeguard the middle class and cushion the economy.
"We have a good cross section of the Senate Democratic caucus from left to right who are prepared to accept this,' Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the majority whip, said during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union. Chris Van Hollen, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, told Fox News that despite frustration with the estate-tax provision (which many Dems believe should have a lower threshold and a higher rate), "We're not going to hold this thing up at the end of the day.'"
Gee, don't strain yourself, boys, with all that backbone stretching.
The Neocons don't assume (official) Congressional control until January, but it feels they've been pulling the President's strings on issue after issue since near the beginning of his term. "Compromise" is the soft language the White House uses to describe total surrender. No, Mr. President, a compromise is when you really want steak for dinner but your family wants chicken, so you go out for dinner and everybody gets to order what they want. Your actions are a total gift to the GOP; there's no compromise anywhere in your history in office thus far. What concessions have the Neocons ever made? How sad for us all.
In a related story, President Obama promises to fight the Republicans "next year."
"I will be happy to see the Republicans test whether or not I'm itching for a fight on a whole range of issues," Obama said last week. "I suspect they will find I am. And I think the American people will be on my side on a whole bunch of these fights." He's joking, right, with the "tomorrow is another day" business?
This Scarlett O'Hara attitude reminds me of our six-year-old daughter who often answers, "I'll do that tomorrow" when we ask her to do something she has no intention of ever doing without our continued nagging, like cleaning up her room. Maybe we need to hire that militant nanny from TV to waive a Dustbuster at Obama and order him to start acting like the President he promised us he would be. The stakes are too high to take the "send him to bed without any supper" approach. We need strong leadership now, not next week, next month, or next year.
Is there any Democrat in Washington ready to take on that fight?
