Obama to Dems: My Presidency Will End If You Don't Pass Tax Deal That I Detest

Huh??

Is this some kind of ploy to make sure that the tax deal will be voted down? (I'm sure there are many people who will rejoice if Obama;s presidency ends in 2012, if not sooner.)

The Hill reported on 12/15 that the Obama White House is urging the House Dems to vote for the bill that will extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two more years; otherwise, the WH says, Obama's presidency would end:

In urging lawmakers to vote for his tax deal, President Obama is using one of his go-to lines from the healthcare debate, according to a Democratic lawmaker.

Obama is telling members of Congress that failure to pass the tax-cut legislation could result in the end of his presidency, Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.) said.

"The White House is putting on tremendous pressure, making phone calls, the president is making phone calls saying this is the end of his presidency if he doesn't get this bad deal," he told CNN's Eliot Spitzer.

But the White House shot back late on Wednesday.

"The president hasn’t said anything remotely like that and has never spoken with Mr. DeFazio about the issue," said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.

Obama's push shows that the president is going to the mat in order to push through Congress the compromise brokered with Republicans.

During the end of the healthcare debate, Obama reportedly told Democrats upset that the bill did not contain a public healthcare option that not passing it could put his presidency on the line and stall the liberal agenda for decades.

The White House has been aggressively selling the deal, which includes a two-year extension of all the expiring Bush tax cuts in exchange for a 13-month extension of unemployment benefits, to skeptical lawmakers and the public.

Hmmm. Tough choice. I believe to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire in a moribund economy would be a disaster, unduly punishing people who work to earn income (as opposed to super-rich who may not necessarily work to remain rich). But if we have Obama as a one-term prez by not passing the bill, It may be more beneficial to economy in the long run.

But as always, we the small people don't have any say. House passed the bill today by 277-148. Oh well. (So Obama's presidency will continue beyond 2012? Yuck.)

I know the real reason why Obama was pushing for the passage of the bill. He just wants to start his Hawaiian vacation - playing golf and watching ESPN.

Let's see if Moody's downgrades the US tomorrow...

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