Who Needs Republicans?
by digby
If any of you still wonder why these Democrats drive the activist base to distraction, here’s the perfect example. dday reports:
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Anyone who thinks that Democrats have suddenly got religion on revenues and the need for tax hikes on the rich (or simply to let the Bush tax cuts expire entirely) should take a look at the Tax Day press release I just got from the Senate Dems. Here’s the headline:“FACT SHEET: DEMOCRATS HAVE PASSED $1.5 TRILLION IN TAX CUTS SINCE 2007″
Here’s the subhed:
“Americans’ Tax Burden Is At Its Lowest In 60 Years”
Here’s the first line of the release:
“Democrats know that one of the best ways to help our economy recover is to reduce the taxes that families and businesses pay each year.”
The rest of the release denotes all of the tax cuts Senate Democrats have passed since January 2007, and it’s a pretty accurate list.
Perhaps, you say, they’re just rebutting the “tax and spend liberal” label and doing so effectively. But if you think this is the crew that’s going to pick a fight on taxes, even for the rich, I think this release puts that to bed.
Sure does.
Once again the Democrats are trying mightily to convince the American people that they aren’t the same old taxnspend/socialist/liberal/commies they are always accused of being. But it won’t work. If a Democratic president balancing the budget and leaving a surplusdidn’t do it, then this certainlyu won’t. And the irony is that they are telling the truth. They really do prefer tax and spending cuts and nobody believes it.
Maybe they should try making a case for active, responsive government for a change and see if that might work better. Of course, they would have to act like they believe it and I’m fairly sure that a good many of them can’t pull it off.
Update: In light of the phony baloney S&P downgrade today and the predictable GOP response, Dave Weigel says the Democrats are bad at politics because they aren’t touting their latest pledge to let the Bush tax cuts expire as part of the debt ceiling negotiations. One might think so, except it would step on their victory lap as the greatest tax cutters in history.
And I’m fairly sure that allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire has to be saved as a big 2012 campaign issue for both sides. They don’t expire until after the election, so there’s lots of political mileage left in them. And it worked out so well the last time.
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