Filed under: Interviews, Dr. Boyce Money, News, The Economy
Barbara Lee, Chairwoman of the CBC, said that she will not support President Obama's plan:
"You put those together and this is an assault on the working poor and middle-income people," she said. "What is so outrageous about this whole thing is we know the pain and suffering people are going through right now as a result of the bush era tax cuts."
The CBC says that they are willing to consider other proposals on tax cuts, including an extension of unemployment benefits for 13 months, and a two-year extension of tax cuts for those earning less than $250,000 per year.
The CBC doesn't appear to be swayed by a recent press conference held by President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton. During the surprise gathering, both Clinton and Obama spoke on the benefits of the deal the president made with Republicans. The bill should be brought to a vote in the Senate on Monday, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Right now, I must confess that I am confused by what's happening in Washington. Rather than seeing the benefits of Obama's deal with Republicans, or at least realizing the logic behind his decision, Democrats are screaming at the top of their lungs about allowing wealthy Americans to keep their taxes down. I am not, for one second, a fan of allowing the wealthy to keep their tax cuts, but I am willing to allow them to have these cuts if the cost might be the loss of unemployment benefits for millions of Americans.
Quite frankly, the political warfare going on in the Democratic Party reminds me of the opposition some of my friends have shown toward issues like gay marriage. There are millions of Americans who have nothing to gain or lose by allowing gay people to be married, but they become angry and offended nonetheless. Personally, it never mattered much to me one way or the other, so my response has always been, "Why not?" This was especially true in 2004, where staunch opposition to gay marriage fueled another four years of one of the worst presidents in American history. Sometimes we cut off our nose to spite our face when it comes to political ideology.
Yes, extending tax cuts for the rich is going to negatively impact the federal debt, but the debt is going to continue growing whether or not the wealthy get their cuts. Also, stopping the wealthy from keeping their tax cuts is not going to put food on the tables of those families who stand to lose everything while the folks in Washington play a dysfunctional game of high stakes chicken. If the Democratic attacks on the president are part of some covert strategy to recapture the White House, brand the Republicans as the party for the rich and undermine Republican arguments that Obama is too liberal, then I get it. But if things are effectively what they appear to be, then I am shocked and disappointed that this is going down at all.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.