We mentioned earlier how John Boehner appeared to cave to Obama on the tax question, admitting that the GOP could possibly support a bill that extended the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, even while ending them for the rich.

Here was the exchange:

Bob Schieffer: "I want to make sure I heard what you said correctly: you're saying that you are willing to vote for those middle class tax cuts, even though the bill will not include ... extending the tax cuts for the upper bracket American."

Rep. Boehner: "Bob, we don't know what the bill's going to say, alright? If the only option I have is to vote for those at 250 and below, of course I'm going to do that. But I'm going to do everything I can to fight to make sure that we extend the current tax rates for all Americans."

Uh, just like that is he rolling over?

Already team Boehner is trying to spin things.

Talking Points Memo:

Says a Boehner aide: "Despite what Obama says, Republicans are not holding middle-class tax cuts hostage and we're not going to let him get away with those types of false claims. Our focus remains on getting bipartisan support for a freeze on all current rates, because that is what is best for the economy and small business job creation. Boehner's words were calculated to deprive Obama of the ability to continue making those false claims, and as a result we are in a better position rhetorically to pressure more Democrats to support a full freeze."

But that doesn't make logical sense to me. Not in political terms. It sounds more like Boehner gave Obama an opening, not just for a better policy approach but also for a better political footing to take into the mid-term election.

Not that this is much of a line-of-scrimmage mover, but we were right that this is a good line of attack for Obama, as Boehner doesn't quite know how to deal with this issue. We'll see if Obama can make more hay out of it.