Reid Puts Eliminating GOP Tax Cuts On the Stimulus Negotiating Table

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Economy
Posted on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 03:25:06 PM EST
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This is a shrewd move from Senate Majority Leader Reid:

Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME), one of the four Republicans considered genuinely open to cooperation with Democrats on a workable economic recovery bill, just released a statement saying she was approached by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to come up with a list of trims from the $275 billion-plus tax section of the stimulus[:]

I was approached this morning and asked to work directly with leadership to amend the tax section of the stimulus bill in order to develop compromise language that could pass the Senate. The total reductions sought by leadership will closely resemble the amount I recommended to the President during our meeting on Wednesday. This is a critical time for our nation.

[More...]

Our economy shed another 598,000 jobs last month - the most since 1974 - propelling the national unemployment rate to 7.6 percent. Until we deliver to the American people an economic stimulus package that spurs significant job creation and helps those most affected during these trying economic times, I will continue to work, as I have for months, with leadership and the Administration.

Let's see if "bipartisanship" is as important to the Beltway "bipartisan" BSers when it comes to taking out ineffective stimulus - otherwise known as tax cuts.

Speaking for me only

< Rove, Congress, the Special Counsel, and Handcuffs | More On The "Bipartisan" Stimulus Negotiations >

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Reid Puts Eliminating GOP Tax Cuts On the Stimulus Negotiating Table | 12 comments (12 topical)

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Indeed (5.00 / 2) (#1)
by andgarden on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 03:28:48 PM EST

Let's get an upperdown vote on stripping the tax cuts.

Also, Pelosi is using the trump card of conference to dissuade more cuts.

: I just heard on The News Hour (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by BernieO on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 05:59:13 PM EST

that the bill has been cut to $700-plus billion. That seems pretty low. Also there is supposed to be a deal now.

[ Parent ]

face it (2.00 / 0) (#12)
by diogenes on Sat Feb 07, 2009 at 04:49:27 PM EST

The House Dems larded the stimulus bill with non job-creating stuff hoping to stampede it through as people panicked.
If the House Dems want to be the ones who scale back tax cuts then more power to them. It'll shrink the net stimulus even more.

What next, are they going to use the (none / 0) (#2)
by ThatOneVoter on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 03:39:42 PM EST

word "filibuster", instead of "block"?

Delay (none / 0) (#3)
by squeaky on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 03:45:10 PM EST

So most likely no vote today. I agree with Elana Schor at TPM, quoting Spector

"If [Reid] had [the votes], he would have used them last night."

He was bluffing.

: Hard to say (5.00 / 2) (#4)
by Big Tent Democrat on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 04:00:47 PM EST

[ Parent ]

BTD, I wish (none / 0) (#5)
by NYShooter on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 04:34:19 PM EST

I shared your confidence.

I'm pretty sure you agree that the Republicans don't take their cue from the economic Armageddon facing us, nor from the Americans facing financial ruin; they will bow to the orders of Rush ("I want him to fail") Limbaugh.

These are all rich people who WILL plunge our country into an economic ice age before allowing Obama the chance to turn this thing around. That Congressman who crawled into Limbaugh's studio begging forgiveness for his momentary lapse into decency, was speaking for all the Republicans, not just himself.

They, rightly, feel they have the msm in their pocket, and are confident that when the unemployment rate gets into the teens, the public will blame the party that's in power.

It's the only chance they've got, and if Obama doesn't see that, then they'll be right.

Gosh, I hope that's not true (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by Inspector Gadget on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 04:47:01 PM EST

I'm not a fan of Obama's, but I truly, truly want to see his administration succeed in every possible way. Weren't Republicans impacted by the economic downturn? They can't possibly be that stubborn, hateful, or shallow...can they?

[ Parent ]

Yes... (5.00 / 3) (#7)
by kmblue on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 04:56:20 PM EST

they can.

[ Parent ]

You should read (5.00 / 2) (#9)
by BernieO on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 06:07:39 PM EST

"The Hunting of the President" by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons if you want to find out just what these people are willing to do to get their power back. Or watch the DVD, but there is a lot more detail in the book. Granted this was in the nineties but there is no reason to think they have changed since the same people are calling the shots. Their tactics are slimy and despicable.

[ Parent ]

Yes that book is great and the (5.00 / 2) (#10)
by hairspray on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 07:54:40 PM EST

documentation is excellent. One other book that I found spine-chilling was "The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk" by Susan McDougal. She didn't have a close relationship with the Clintons and was unwilling to lie about it to Kenneth Starr. But the spine-chilling occurs in her tale of her increasingly punitive incarceration. The prosecutors were willing to use the judicial system for their own ends. At first she was in a local prison, but lacking success they moved her to a prison where she was housed with murderers and finally she ended up in solitary confinement where she almost broke down mentally. This was for not testifying to the grand jury. She agreed to testify if Starr were not present but that of course ratcheted up the punishment. That should be reading for anyone who thinks this group of Republicans are amenable to common sense. Of course another really good book was "Blinded by the Right" by David Brock.

[ Parent ]

: Fabulous book, I agree (5.00 / 2) (#11)
by gyrfalcon on Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 11:24:07 PM EST

I wasn't expecting much when I opened it but a whiny personal memoir without much content, but it was absolutely riveting. I came away from it thinking that Susan McDougal is a truly heroic person, both for her refusal to save herself by lying about somebody else (ie Clinton), but for her ending up with a genuine passion for helping the women she met in prison, all of whom were in far worse situations than she was, she realized quickly, despite the wrong done to her.
It's also very, very well-written. She knows how to tell a story.

[ Parent ]