Staff Editorial: More compromised Democrats

Hold tight
Washington is as lame as its current lame duck session.

On Tuesday, President Obama struck a deal to extend the Bush Tax Cuts by two years, allowing 13 more months of unemployment benefits and keeping a 2 percentage point payroll tax reduction for 2011. The new plan is estimated to add between $600 and $800 billion during the next two years to the federal deficit and has already sparked outrage from the severe Left. With some claiming there was no consensus between House and Senate leaders.

Democrats believe Obama’s latest compromise isolated him further from those who helped him with his policies during his first two years in office.

When the Left brought new legislation to the table, it was up against a party only interested in filibustering the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and countless other bills along the way.

The Left will lose power after this last session in Congress, but it shouldn’t lose its moral integrity.

Sway with the wind
Politics is not a schoolyard playground where the people in social power can command a specific agenda. The Obama administration tried it, and it failed.
You can call the extension of the Bush Tax Cuts a political move for 2012, but we’re calling it priority thinking. There has to be compromise during the next two years, or federal government will remain stalled.

The president said it best during his press conference Wednesday: “My number one priority is to do what’s right for the American people. Because of this agreement, middle class Americans won’t see their taxes go up on January 1.”

Sooner or later Washington leaders will have to reinstate “compromise” in their vocabularies, and for the Democrats’ sake, why not swallow some pride and do it now?

The Left tried to jam bills in Congress, allowing “stimulus” and “health care” to become household names for middle America. But since the Nov. 2 election loss, reaching to the Right could lead to some good for this ailing economy.

The Bush Tax Cuts, though extremely controversial, will spare millions from the daunting task of handing money over during a time when an economy is still in recovery. Yes, it’s unfair that the top 1 percent of Americans get a break, but if this compromise is what it takes to prevent other bills from the filibuster, then it has to be done.

Wouldn’t it be a stroke of karma if the GOP’s new “plan” doesn’t work? The fingers are all pointed to the Left for now, but like everything in Washington, it’s bound to swing the other way.