The President Puts Party Before Country

President Obama's $1.5 trillion dollar tax increase plan makes no sense. He signed an extension of the Bush tax cuts and two social security tax holidays, but now as election approaches, he wants to "tax the rich." His threat to veto entitlement reform makes the job of the "gang of twelve" deficit reduction committee much harder. Does he want it all too fail? Does he think that another crisis will get him re-elected? He's not likely to be running against a member of Congress next year, but a governor or former governor, so he won't have the luxury of demonizing the Congress for his own failures. Speaking of creating the conditions for failure, here's what Alexis Simendinger said in RCP today:

The president, in effect, decided to make the deficit-cutting job more challenging for Congress. The 12-member joint panel now negotiating to reach a deal under the rules set up by the debt-ceiling pact can ignore Obama’s deficit ideas and his rhetoric, but probably not his veto threats. The president set the overall target higher than the panel’s mandate (at a net total of $4 trillion); added $1.5 trillion in “comprehensive” tax reform to the mix, but with tax hikes in addition to tax cuts; and in a direct bow to his Democratic base, removed significant entitlement changes from a 10-year plan to curb the deficit.

The public understands that we have to start on entitlement reform now, because it is a serious long term threat, DailyKosters excepted. This is a loser for the President.

My most likely explanation is that Obama is just talking tough to play to his base. But when he sees his poll numbers tanking because this approach will create a crisis, he will just cave. Then his base will be even more demoralized. All Republicans need to do is stand firm and tackle some real reform and some more progress can be made in the long effort to dismantle federal excess.