According to the Washington Post and administration officials, President Obama is willing to take the country right off the fiscal cliff for short term political gain - with or without reelection.
Freed from the political and economic constraints that have tied his hands in the past, Obama is ready to play hardball with Republicans, who have so far successfully resisted a deal to tame the debt that includes higher taxes, Obama’s allies say.
In the days after the November election, the tables will be turned: Taxes are scheduled to rise dramatically in January for people at all income levels, and Republicans will be unable to stop those automatic increases alone.
If he wins reelection, Obama may finally be able to dictate the terms of a bipartisan debt-reduction deal. And if he loses to Republican Mitt Romney, Obama could make sure that tax rates rise before he hands over the keys to the White House on Inauguration Day in late January.
First off, the looming fiscal cliff situation is typical of Washington politics, waiting until the very last minute to even talk about putting a bandaid on the crisis at hand however, President Obama had months to address this issue with Congress yet failed to do so. Now, Obama seems to be willing to put his own class warfare politics ahead of the country's fiscal health and ahead of all American families who will see a tax increase of thousands of dollars on January 1 if nothing is done. He is willing to punish everyone in order to vilify those he believes make and have too much money. We've been over this before, even if the government confiscated 100% of what millionaires and billionaires have, we would still have a severe financial crisis on our hands with nobody to pay the bills or to create jobs.
If Obama loses in November, which is what the polls are now showing will likely happen, is he really willing to leave behind a legacy of a horrible economy and raising taxes on middle class families for short term political gain? Not to mention, regardless of who wins on Election Day, Paul Ryan will still be the Chairman of the House Budget Committee. Get ready for an interesting lame duck session regardless of who wins the White House.