What a lot of hooey!
President Obama reached so far across the aisle during his first term that he practically tied himself in knots. And it got him nothing but criticism from his base that he had compromised too much.
He compromised to allow the Bush tax cuts to continue for two years beyond their expiration date in return for payroll tax cuts and an extension of unemployment benefits.
He compromised for a deal to increase the debt ceiling, but the Republican fight against increasing it resulted in Standard & Poor's downgrading the United States' credit rating. And instead of a grand bargain, we got a trigger and this impending fiscal cliff.
Now, President Obama has been re-elected with an electoral landslide and a 3,000,000 vote margin. The Democrats added seats in both the Senate and the House. Democrats on ran on raising taxes on the wealthiest people and on saving programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in their current forms.
And the Republicans think he should compromise?
He shouldn't.
The Republicans have bluff and bluster. The Democrats have the mandate.
The Republicans have the support of Wall Street and health insurance companies. The Democrats have the support of the American citizens.
Now it's time for the Republicans to compromise.
President Obama must call their bluff.
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Update 12/11: Now Speaker Boehner says, "Where are the cuts?" To that I would say, "No cuts to social programs. Maybe Pentagon cuts. Or corporate welfare, like the giveaways to big oil or agribusinesses. Where are the deductions you speak of cutting?" The Republicans don't want to talk about those, because they want to eliminate deductions such as the home mortgage interest deduction. They would eliminate deductions that help millions of middle class homeowners every year.
* Tee shirt sketch from shreddytimes.com
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