Tax Vote Shows That Republicans Are the Masters of This Lame Duck

Jillian Bandes | December 09, 2010 8:52 AM

Sure, they conceded on unemployment benefits, but by and large House Republicans have gotten everything they wanted out of the recent tax deal, showing Democrats that they're the ones who are boss for the rest of this session.

Guy is right that there's a very good chance Dems will cave on the tax deal, because now they're merely grasping at straws to try and "tweak" the $900 billion deal. Roll Call reports that Democrats "appear to lack the leverage they need to get very far" on it. Democrats are "warming" to it, according to the Washington Post.Top White House economic adviser Larry Summers believes we'll go into a double-dip recession if we don't pass it.

Many are curious as to why Obama is pushing so hard. Why not just abandon the deal and kick it down the court for soon-to-be House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) to deal with? Sean Trend isn't the first analyst to bring up the idea of triangulation, which just means that Obama is trying to preserve some of his party's policy objectives while incorporating some Republican objectives. But as Trend points out, if he is triangulating, he's doing a pretty bad job of it. There's precious few issues in the bill that appeal to Democrats, leaving Obama with the title of the biggest lame duck.