Monday, December 20, 2010

POLITICS - Era of Compromise and True Governance?

"With New Tax Bill, a Turning Point for the President" by PETER BAKER, New York Times 12/17/2010

Excerpt

With the stroke of a pen, President Obama on Friday enacted the largest tax cut in nearly a decade and, in the process, took a big step toward reinventing himself as a champion of compromise in a politically fractured capital.

When he first struck the deal two weeks ago, a sour Mr. Obama announced it by himself, lamented his own agreement and testily denounced his Republican partners as “hostage takers” and his liberal critics as “sanctimonious.” By the time he signed it into law on Friday, little more than six weeks after an electoral debacle for him and his party, he stood with the Senate Republican leader and celebrated the package as a hallmark of cooperation.

“The final product proves when we can put aside the partisanship and the political games, when we can put aside what’s good for some of us in favor of what’s good for all of us, we can get a lot done,” Mr. Obama said buoyantly at a bill-signing ceremony in the White House complex. “I’m also hopeful that we might refresh the American people’s faith in the capability of their leaders to govern in challenging times.”

While I personally find the compromise hard to swallow (as did President Obama) IF we are to have actual governance, compromise is a MUST.

I agree with Obama that Republicans DID hold hostage tax-cuts for 98% of Americans to tax-cuts for the top 2% of Americans.

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