The Lipstick Applied by the White House is not Making this Pig Pretty

The following are my two rants sent to the White House on their tax break stimulus package.

To Anyone who cares:

I’ve watched the White Board video to explain the infamous tax break agreement and I’m not convinced. Something about lipstick and pigs comes to mind. Statements like still being against the excessive tax breaks for the mega and ultra rich and the reduction in funding social security being only temporary, just aren’t credible.

The nation is witnessing the effects of the distorted reality of our national capital on political thinking in the White House. Living inside the beltway is like living inside a bad barrel that rots good apples. In 2007, while working outside of the beltway, a progressive Democrat was nominated and elected President to spend the next four years inside that bad barrel. Two years later the beltway bad barrel has converted the progressive Democrat to a moderate Republican. Over the next two years, the conversion will continue. By 2012, President Obama will have to change political parties to get renominated for a second term.

I was a union rep for 10 years and participated in 4 contract negotiations. We always made our proposal to the company first and we never started with what the company would propose. We knew if we started from their initial proposal, we would lose even more.

Goolsbee on Maddow and tax cuts for the ultra and mega rich

I’m still not convinced.

Two years from now, public opinion on excessive tax breaks for the mega and ultra rich may be the same as now – maybe not. We still have two more years of the highly effective Republican message machine and probably very little counter point from the left.

Two years from now, there will be not only more Republicans in Congress, there will be more right-wing authoritarians (Tea Party reps). They want tax breaks even more than those in Congress now.

Two years from now President Obama will be a lame duck president. He’ll have no influence then on what he has left us with now.

What would have happened if the left had started weeks ago with a strong, no compromise stand on the extension of unemployment payments. Couldn’t a strong drive from the left for extending unemployment payments win against tax breaks for the mega and ultra rich? How could Republicans argue for tax cuts and expect to win against extending unemployment payments if those were the two options? Wouldn’t they give up tax cuts for the top 2 percent just to look good in helping the unemployed? It’s all about framing the argument.

The lipstick is not helping me look kindly on this pig.