Reply #27: Have to disagree

[lefthandedskyhook]

As much as I share your loathing of the DLC and unbridled corporate greed in general, I can accept this rationale for a TEMPORARY reprieve:

The most vital economic priority for Obama when he takes office is to get the economy moving again. The enormous mess created by corporate influence in our political system has destroyed confidence. Reversing those tax cuts before the economy gets moving again will further undermine confidence and engender resentment among the investment class. This would almost certainly SLOW the recovery or destroy it altogether. So I believe he is simply offering the carrot before using the stick, and looking at the effect of these actions on the stock market it appears to be beginning to work already.

The thing to watch for as soon as Obama becomes president is a bona fide "bottom up" economic stimulus package. This is the engine that can truly heal the relentless supply side economic damage done to our economy from 1981 to the present. Once that stimulus gets a foothold I will EXPECT those tax cuts to be reversed so that we can return to fiscal sanity.

As I understand it, Franklin Roosevelt felt his way forward much more slowly than this and the economy took much longer to recover than it probably will under this plan. Obama has the benefit of hindsight after all and I believe that he is using it. I really don't think that he has sold out, but that's still no reason for us to become complacent.