The Morning Plum

By Greg Sargent

UPDATE: White House denies giving in on Bush tax cuts: The White House is sharply denying the Huffington Post story I noted below claiming that David Axelrod signaled a willingness to accept a temporary extension of all the Bush tax cuts, claiming that their position remains unchanged.

Axelrod emails:

There is not one bit of news here. I simply re-stated what POTUS and Robert have been saying. Our two strong principles are that we need to extend the tax cuts for the middle class, but we can't afford a permanent extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy.

And White House comm director Dan Pfeiffer adds:

The story is overwritten. Nothing has changed from what the President said last week. We believe we need to extend the middle class tax cuts, we cannot afford to borrow 700 billion to pay for extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and we are open to compromise and are looking forward to talking to the Congressional leadership next week to discuss how to move forward. Full Stop, period, end of sentence.

The question remains, though, whether the White House will hold fast to Obama's demand last week that the extension of the tax cuts for the middle class remain permanent while extending the high end ones temporarily. The main sticking point is that Republicans won't allow the two categories to be extended for different durations, because that would force them to push for just an extension of the cuts for the rich later.



ORIGINAL POST:

* White House giving in on the Bush tax cuts? The Huffington Post is reporting that David Axelrod signaled in an interview that a temporary extension of all the cuts, including those for the rich, is the only way to prevent taxes from going up on the middle class:

"We have to deal with the world as we find it," Axelrod said during an unusually candid and reflective 90-minute interview in his office, steps away from the Oval Office. "The world of what it takes to get this done." "There are concerns," he added, that Congress will continue to kick the can down the road in the future by passing temporary extensions for the wealthy time and time again. "But I don't want to trade away security for the middle class in order to make that point."

I'm not sure this amounts to the White House giving in quite yet, but it seems to suggest that's where things are headed. The White House wanted a permanent extension for the middle class cuts and a temporary extension of the high end ones. But Republicans have refused any effort to "decouple" the two categories, insisting on extending both for the same duration, in order to avoid having to push for extending just the tax cuts for the rich later.

Also: Axelrod's acknowledgment that this solution amounts to merely kicking the can down the road is another indication that this would not represent a compromise in any meaningful sense. It would mean doing it the GOP's way for now, on the understanding that we'll have the exact same conversation again in a few years. It would mean temporary capitulation, pure and simple.

Stay tuned for more on this.

* Deficit commission's bizarre staffing arrangement: Important read: Dan Eggen on how the commission's satffers are paid by outside entities with a heavy ideological bent towards cutting entitlement programs.

* The deficit commission's very serious priorities: Kevin Drum on the draft report: "This document is a paean to cutting the federal government, not cutting the federal deficit."

* The best way for Dems to win back seniors is to cut Social Security: As Jon Walker notes, Dems took their most brutal shellacking among seniors, which makes it even more imperative that they draw a bright line protecting their lifeline.

* Whatever happens, Dems should always move to the center: E.J. Dionne wonders why no one told Repubicans to move to the center when they lost big in 2008 -- and counsels Dems to do exactly what the Republicans did to engineer their comeback.

* What the heck are we waiting for on DADT repeal? The Post breaks the news that the Pentagon has concluded that there's minimal risk to repeal. But Dems are apparently still in talks with John McCain over possibly nixing repeal from the big defense authorization bill moving through Congress. Why can't we get this done already?

* Bachmann goes bust: Millions of Tea Partyers gnash their teeth as Michele Bachmann, who had tried to convince GOP leaders that giving her a leadership slot would keep the Tea Party mob in check, throws in the towel on her leadership bid.

* Power lefty money types gear up for 2012: I reported yesterday that David Brock is planning a new outside group, and now dozens of Beltway power liberals are set to meet and strategize on how to match the right's powerful new infrastructure.

* And how will "Harry Houdini" handle his next act? That's what Harry Reid's staff has taken to calling him in the wake of his surprise victory over Sharron Angle, but he's going to need a really good bag of tricks to handle the challenges he faces now.

What else is happening?



