Obama Rules Out Compromise to Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts for Wealthy

Good. Good. Good.

This came via an e-mail, but here’s the link. Did I mention good, good good?

President Obama will rule out on Wednesday any compromise that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy beyond this year, officials said, adding a populist twist to an election-season economic package that is otherwise designed to entice support from big businesses and their Republican allies.

I had posted Peter Orszag’s take on this earlier today.

Democrats say only the president can rally wavering lawmakers who, amid the party’s weakened poll numbers, feel increasingly vulnerable to Republican attacks if they let the top rates lapse at the end of this year as scheduled.

It is not clear that Mr. Obama can prevail given his own diminished popularity, the tepid nature of the economic recovery and the divisions within his party. But by proposing to extend the rates for the 98 percent of households with income below $250,000 for couples and $200,000 for individuals — and insisting that federal income tax rates in 2011 go back to their 2001 levels for income above those cutoffs — he intends to cast the issue as a choice between supporting the middle class or giving breaks to the wealthy.

The Dems are already “vulnerable” to Republican attacks.  Allowing the tax cuts to lapse, as George Bush had arranged (remember, this was his idea), is how it was supposed to be.  So President Obama is following through on Boy Georgie’s Big Plan.

Please read the rest here.