Posted on 12/23/2011 5:41:07 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) — On a political high, President Barack Obama capped a bruising year by securing a tax cut for millions of Americans — an achievement that overshadowed Washington's deepening dysfunction and the slow progress of the economy on his watch.
The White House has ended a year with a political victory before. This time around the stakes are higher, and the president is by no means assured of carrying the momentum deep into an election year.
Addressing reporters before heading to Hawaii on Friday, Obama looked like a president in command of the stage again, for now. He left the capital after presiding over a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut — about $40 per paycheck for someone making $50,000 a year — that came when House Republicans caved on demands for a longer deal.
Yet on this issue, like many, enormous work remains for Obama after the new year, just when voters begin choosing a Republican nominee to try to oust him from his job.
Obama initially had pushed for a year-long extension of both the Social Security payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. He got only two months on both because Congress could not agree on how to pay the bill for more without gutting their own political priorities — the same problem that awaits all sides in the weeks to come.
Although Obama calls a full-year extension a "formality," politically, it is not. So he pushed Congress to work "without drama, without delay" when they return from their own recess.
The whole scene was reminiscent of a year ago, when Obama took a self-described "shellacking" in the midterm elections but still ended up leaving for his yearly Hawaiian holiday on a high note.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Until they get rid of the Democrat plant, Crybaby Boehner, the House will only be a tacit supporter of the Obama agenda.
No one is more dangerous to the Republic than Boehner.
It’s great the Republicans will fold so easily on this. It makes them easier to primary.
There is plenty of blame to go around in this latest fiasco BUT I was calling for Boehner's removal after the 2008 election, and again after the 2010 election(House Speaker). It made NO sense to keep him in charge after the two disasters 2006 and 2008. After the 1992 election loss Republicans cleaned house.
What we need is a conservative version of Pelosi, someone trusted (conservative) and strong and knows how to play political hardball and run a team game. That is NOT Boehner.
Pravda did not spin for the Soviet Communist government as hard as Yahoo does for Obama.
The Democrat enabler who wrote this abomination failed to mention that the one-year extension of the payroll tax cut will take over $200 billion dollars from a Social Security fund that is running in the red since last year. With the baby boomers retiring, there is no way it will stay solvent.
“Obama Robs the Elderly” won’t appear as a headline in any US newspaper.
“Obama is very likely to be reelected...”
We have decided not to buy a new vehicle until after next year’s election and will save as much cash as we can until then. If he is re-elected, we will be leaving the country to suffer without us.
This stupid pay roll tax cut is setting a horrible precedent no different than when Johnson started borrowing from the SS revenues.
He got a cut in Social Security funds is what he got.
Lets not lie about it.
Gone to Hawaii .. Mission Accomplished.
and created another deadline to bore everyone to death with
Supposedly 40 bucks, saves the common man, that obama claims to be, yet he Spends FORTY Dollars on a Dog Toy and the press swoons.
If this had been anyone but the token president, the press would have been screaming, "See he treats you like his dog". Late night would be pounding him over it.
After the normal seasonal workers are laid off at the end of the year, the UE rate will be back north of 9 percent. This economy is not coming back anytime soon. There’s just way too much govt. and private debt that has to be deleveraged (paid down) and baby boomers are retiring by the boatload beginning now. They’ll be going on SS and spending less, a double whammy for the economy.
And home prices are still falling so average net worth is falling.
President Barack Obama capped a bruising year by securing a tax cut for millions of Americans -- an achievement that overshadowed Washington's deepening dysfunction and the slow progress of the economy on his watch.
Not to burst your bubble sarge, but, Lincoln was reelected in 1864. It should be easy to find some hero of DumBO that meets your criteria. Lyndon, should meet your needs, strickly speaking he was elected once and did not seek reelection, due, to being the most hated man in his own party.
I hope that by the time this Social Security defunding comes up again in February, the Republicans have a more defined leadership that can lead and articulate, it is the Bolshies throwing Nanzi, err, granny off the cliff.
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