There is not one bit of news here. I simply re-stated what POTUS and Robert have been saying. Our two strong principles are that we need to extend the tax cuts for the middle class, but we can't afford a permanent extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy.
That last bit was the one part that made me feel better. He drew a bit fat underline under "we can't afford a permanent extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy".
And White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer chimed in:
The story is overwritten. Nothing has changed from what the President said last week. We believe we need to extend the middle class tax cuts, we cannot afford to borrow 700 billion to pay for extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and we are open to compromise and are looking forward to talking to the Congressional leadership next week to discuss how to move forward. Full Stop, period, end of sentence.
Even the Washington Post's Greg Sargent is skeptical, but like me, he thinks this bad deal is where we're headed.
I'm not sure this amounts to the White House giving in quite yet, but it seems to suggest that's where things are headed. The White House wanted a permanent extension for the middle class cuts and a temporary extension of the high end ones. But Republicans have refused any effort to "decouple" the two categories, insisting on extending both for the same duration, in order to avoid having to push for extending just the tax cuts for the rich later.
This does seem typical of the White House pattern. Leak a story that has bad implications for the White House. Deny, deny, deny the story. Then go ahead with what the original story said anyway.
It's also possible, just possible, that the White House hasn't decided what they're going to do yet. As I've said in the past, when they decide to move, the move with blinding speed. It's getting to that stage that can take a while.
As always, it's all about the clicks.
