Are the Republican Message Masters Asleep at the Wheel?
Republicans, you know that whole lower taxes and free market message you’re supposed to be spreading? Well, you’re doing it wrong!
PRINCETON, NJ — A majority of Americans favor letting the tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration expire for the wealthy. While 37% support keeping the tax cuts for all Americans, 44% want them extended only for those making less than $250,000 and 15% think they should expire for all taxpayers.
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The president’s views on ending the tax cuts for wealthy Americans are in line with the views of the majority of rank-and-file Democrats. Meanwhile, the majority of Republicans want the tax cuts extended for all taxpayers, regardless of their income level. Independents’ views fall between those of the two groups, but a majority (56%) would seem to endorse the idea of not extending tax cuts for higher-income Americans, whether or not they want them extended for middle- and lower-income Americans.
The President has been telegraphing this move worse than Brett Farve staring down his running back on an out pattern. The Republicans should have been poised to jump the route, intercept the argument, and take it to the house for a pick six.
*ahem* Sorry about that. The football season started last night and I’m a bit geared up. What I meant to say is that no one should be surprised that the President is trying to jack up taxes on “the rich”, because that’s the only thing he knows. The GOP has been negligent in not having a simple and brutally effective riposte to Obama’s class warfare other than “Nuh uh!”. It’s not like the Republican Message Masters would have to work very hard; the President serves up money quotes completely unbidden.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama stood firm on Thursday in opposition to a Republican push to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the rich but stopped short of threatening to veto such a measure if passed by Congress.
“There are a whole bunch of better ways to spend the money,” Obama said in an ABC News interview when pressed twice whether he would use his veto power to block such a move. He did not directly answer the question.
Why the GOP didn’t immediately take that quote and push it with all their might into the media is completely beyond me. There is so much arrogance built into it that you almost don’t have to rebut it. However, the contrast between a President who believes he can spend you money in “better ways” and a Republican party who knows that only you know the best way to spend your money could not be more stark. Why hasn’t the GOP message machine jumped on this yet?
Beats me.
(via memeorandum)
Other Posts of Interest:
- How Would You Like to Get All Your 2008 Taxes Back? One Republican Wants to Make It Happen.
- Barack Obama’s “Tax Cut” Plan is Deceitful
- It’s Just A Bill. Yes, It’s Only A Bill. And It Got Screwed Up on Capitol Hill.
Category: The Economy and Your Money, The Republican Minority
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They're not even in the car.
We need to fire Michael Steele ASAP.
Unfortunately, he is instead going to try to take credit for the Tea Party's victory in November.