beyond politics. he actually felt a responsibility to the people out there who were wondering are the tax rates going to go up on january 1st. is that a possibility? and president obama declared early on in this process, as adam correctly points out, both a tactical announcement but also an announcement to the american people that he would not let their tax rates go up on january 1st. he seemed to want them to be settled in that comfortably for the month of december while this negotiation started with the republicans. in order to create a sense of calm among american taxpayers about what was going to happen to them, excluding the top bracket, of course, in order to establish that sense of calm, he had to turn over that negotiating card, that tactical card had to be turned over. once he d done that, what adam is absolutely right about, is that the republicans were empowered to play chicken on this. sure. what karen is absolutely
to speed on that. but do you think that extending this for two years pretty much eliminating the pressure for tax reform? and president obama having announced his interest in tax reform just recently has actually kind of missed out on that opportunity by allowing this extension to go the full two years? 20 senators today have indicated that they ll push hard for tax reform in 2011. there s no question in my mind that the decision made on the senate floor tomorrow will make it harder. once you have propped up this system that is in effect built on scores and scores of special interest tax break, how do you then go to those special interests and say, gosh, we re going to take away the particular tax break that you might enjoy in order to have more economic growth for everybody including you? i do think tomorrow s decision will make tax reform harder, but the president has told me that he s going to keep pushing for it.
jane hamsher, does this look like what could be the breakthrough on don t ask, don t tell? surely the house can get a stand-alone bill through. and there seem to be more than 60 senators who are available theoretically to vote for a stand-alone don t ask, don t tell in the senate. might this be the breakthrough. as nancy pelosi goes, i think i prefer pirates of penzance. this has zero chance of getting through the senate. they re due to break on the 17th. they make take up the s.a.l.t. treaty, but this will wind up being in procedural commotion much like it did last time. there isn t the will to pass it. the question then becomes does president obama really want to end it? because it s questionable whether he has the ability of the justice department to not challenge the court decisions that have rendered it unconstitutional or to end it with a presidential order ending don t ask, don t tell. i think that will be the real question. ezra klein, harry reid was talking about the possi
i ran on. senator, looks like the house tomorrow is poised to pass a stand-alone don t ask, don t tell repeal. can the senate take up that bill and handle it? i sure hope so. ending don t ask, don t tell from a history standpoint is one of the most important things that this congress can do. not only is don t ask, don t tell contrary to our ideal of american freedom, but i sit on the senate committee on intelligence, i can tell you from national security don t ask, don t tell is a mistake. we re losing out on linguists, we re losing out on people. we need to win the war on terror. because of this misguided policy, it will be historymaking. senator ron wyden going his own way on the senate floor tomorrow. michael steele played coy. avoided the question. but now he s announced his intentions to run for another term.
don t tell is long overdue. jane hamsher, does this look like what could be the breakthrough on don t ask, don t tell? surely the house can get a stand-alone bill through. and there seem to be more than 60 senators who are available theoretically to vote for a stand-alone don t ask, don t tell in the senate. might this be the breakthrough. as nancy pelosi goes, i think i prefer pirates of penzance. this has zero chance of getting through the senate. they re due to break on the 17th. they make take up the s.a.l.t. treaty, but this will wind up being in procedural commotion much like it did last time. there isn t the will to pass it. the question then becomes does president obama really want to end it? because it s questionable whether he has the ability of the justice department to not challenge the court decisions that have rendered it unconstitutional or to end it with a presidential order ending don t ask, don t tell.