Axelrod: Republicans Will 'Blink' On Tax Cuts As Expiration Approaches

White House senior adviser David Axelrod predicted on Monday that Congressional Republicans will ultimately "blink" in the tax cut debate as the deadline approaches for all rates to rise to Clinton-era levels.

Speaking shortly after an appearance at a Google/Politico conference on the midterm elections, Axelrod said, as he has for weeks, that he is confident President Obama's tax cut package, which would raise rates only for the wealthiest two percent, will be enacted into law.

But the senior strategist acknowledged that it would likely take a bit of 11th hour drama for it to happen. Axelrod said he agrees with the assessment offered by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday that it would take the specter of the Bush tax cuts expiring across the board (as they will do on December 31, 2010) to nudge a few moderate Republicans to buckle.

"Yeah. I think they will blink when their constituents tell them enough is enough, let's move on a tax cut for 98 percent of the American people, in fact 100 percent, everyone will get it up to $250,000 dollars," Axelrod told the Huffington Post. "They just want to give a special premium to millionaires and billionaires and we can't afford the $700 billion to do that."

Acknowledging that a vote isn't coming before Election Day, Axelrod's outlook for the tax cut debate suggests that both he and congressional Democrats are prepping for high-stakes, high drama political brinksmanship during the lame duck session. To date, the White House has refused to budge from its position that extending the rates for the rich would be wasteful and bust the federal budget. Not a single Republican lawmaker, meanwhile, has stated his or her willingness to vote for the president's package -- setting up a situation in which both sides end up working a small number of moderate Republicans in hopes that they either change or stay the course respectively.

"I think they are going to continue to hold these tax cuts hostage at least until the election," said Axelrod. "I hope that is not the case. The middle class shouldn't be living with this uncertainty but they seem intent on borrowing another 700 billion dollars for the tax cuts for the wealthy."

Comments

[murphy80]

01:04 PM on 09/28/2010

it reminds me of the marx bros. movie, "coconuts"

ax and ram running from town to town, as the chicago coconuts.

please bring back laurel and hardy and "just look what you made me do"

[zhivago54]

08:28 AM on 09/28/2010

Why are we even debating this silliness? Not all rich people are in the business of creating jobs and not all businesses are being run by rich people.. If we preserve that distinction, we can then:

1. Preserve the tax cuts for businesses that actually have the potential to grow and create jobs

2. Preserve the tax cuts for people who are likely to go out and spend.

3. Let the tax cuts expire for all others.

Can't we?

[Eris23Skidoo]

02:48 PM on 09/29/2010

The GOP isn't aiming at efficiency. They are aiming at transferring more wealth from the middle class to the uber-rich.

[ennis438]

07:21 AM on 09/28/2010

Why allow the enemy GOP to "blink?" Instead, the Dems should have pushed the vote this summer . Let the GOP traitors vote against another effort to help the middle class, and let the Dems show America that GOP traitors are against the middle class and for the billionaires. Why no courage on the Dem's side of the aisle? And the Dems wonder why their base has gone underground and is not gaga about this election? Dah.

[Eris23Skidoo]

02:51 PM on 09/29/2010

I think the reason why is because most people are low-information voters. If democrats had tried what you are saying the average person would not see this as "democrats tried but republicans stood in the way". The average person would see it as "congress failed to lower taxes because of partisan bickering". Fake News would spin it that the tax cut failed because democrats were stubborn while republicans just wanted a "fair" tax cut to be "fairly" distributed to "all" Americans. This would depress turnout because people would feel like their govt is paralyzed. Democrats win when turnout is high. Republicans win when turnout is low.

[mamala4]

09:33 PM on 09/27/2010

There is no excuse for extending these unwise and budget busting handout to those who meed it the least. And there is even less excuse for delaying a vote in Congress to end these "get out of tax free" cards for those already pocketing more than a quarter of a million dollars a year. We urgently need to get buying power back in the hands of the majority of the American people, or else our entire economy is going straight down the toilet.

[Business men hire people]

09:53 PM on 09/27/2010

As a business owner I can promise you that the more money that I make the more people that I hire. I can also promise you that the higher my tax rate the less people that I hire.

You are missing the point because it has nothing to do with "need it the least". If you want job creation, you support business profit. When a business grows, it hires people.

[mamala4]

10:12 PM on 09/27/2010

No, YOU missed the point...for 8 years we have learned that tax breaks for the top 2% top DO NOT create jobs...small businesses just got tax breaks as of today. no thanks to the republicans who wouldn't vote for it, except for George Voinovich and one or two others...
we lost more jobs during the 8 Bush years than at any other time....you are out of touch...

[LateBoomer2]

10:50 PM on 09/27/2010

You're conflating business taxes and personal income taxes.

I agree that we need a payroll tax holiday. That would allow businesses to hire / retain more workers.

[TxAnna]

08:54 PM on 09/27/2010

Well, that wasn't so difficult to figure out! Boehner said it himself two weeks ago on one of the Sunday shows. Even if Boehner hadn't let that cat out of the bag, it's still a no-brainer! This issue is a win-win for Dems and the fact that the Leaders of the Senate and House and the people in the WH can't figure this out is completely amazing! Either the Republicons blink and they go along with tax cuts for everyone BUT the richest or they don't and the Dems show them actually trying to explain to We the People just why they think they should penalize the 98% of US that were robbed by the Bushies during the last administration. Either way, it's something that the Dems could have used to campaign on.

[Giveadamn]

08:46 PM on 09/27/2010

To hell with trickle down, I want to see a waterfall! It's time to send the elite a message that they have overvalued their generosity, and their worth to the rest of us!

[Eris23Skidoo]

02:56 PM on 09/29/2010

I would say those parasites are absolutely worthless.

[jbatch]

07:21 PM on 09/27/2010

And of course, if you believe this, then the logical thing to do is to wait until after the elections to make it an issue.

Huh?

How lame can the Dems be?

[heartsick]

07:20 PM on 09/27/2010

The Senate is filibustering the vote. They will continue that until after the election, unless voters in a few States whip some Republicans into line. Don't blame Democrats; the filibuster blocks any vote in the Senate and no vote means anything unless it can get through both houses of Congress.

[formerroadie]

11:45 PM on 09/27/2010

Conservatives have screwed up a ton of things since Obama came into office. They are a blight on this country whether in the minority or the majority. People who vote for them need to get a clue.

[Eris23Skidoo]

02:56 PM on 09/29/2010

Or maybe a piece of metal in the head.

[DannyGee]

07:08 PM on 09/27/2010

David who? Hasn't he quit already?

[jdal]

09:00 AM on 09/28/2010

He is stepping aside (as expected for many months now) to run the re-election campaign for President Obama (as he did brilliantly the last election. That is hardly "quitting" - but you already knew that - just trying to spread more mis-information, weren't you. Sorry, most people pay more attention than just listening to drivel.

[DannyGee]

07:00 PM on 10/01/2010

Axelrod..... FAIL
Your sycophantish post.... DOUBLE FAIL

[joefoss]

07:05 PM on 09/27/2010

Dave,
Here goes a member of the "professional left" again with one of those annoying reality checks:
=The Democrats have already "blinked," putting off a vote on tax cuts--the gutless wimps.
P.S. I don't know who your barber is, but I bet he's a Republican!

[joshu]

06:40 PM on 09/27/2010

Axelrod does not know a blink from a snore. Are you kidding me? Republicans will blink? How about doing some politis and waving some threats around to get your caucus in line? Liebermann still has a chairmanship, from "caucusing with the democrats" whatever that means.

The bunch of them are all carrot and no stick. All peel and zero banana. Moderator don't censor me again. I did not say anything off color.

[DemCentrist]

06:39 PM on 09/27/2010

Umm......no they won't but Democrats already have. Even though the polls support Dems on this issue they have already capitulated.

[Eris23Skidoo]

03:02 PM on 09/29/2010

The dem's have NOT capitulated. They tried to vote on this. The vote has been filibustered. Due to rule changes made to the filibuster a long, long time ago nobody has to actually stand there talking to enact a filibuster. All they have to do is play the card. This goes for both sides. The GOP is just abusing the privilege.

[Zutroy]

06:33 PM on 09/27/2010

The whole tax cuts package was a scheme to redistribute wealth upwards anyway, and it succeeded.

Let the whole damn thing expire.

[RescueUS]

06:30 PM on 09/27/2010

DemocRATS have already blinked. You need to keep up David.

[heartsick]

07:21 PM on 09/27/2010

Democrats have not blinked, but Republicans have put up the ultimate roadblock, filibuster.

[darrtown]

06:28 PM on 09/27/2010

That Republicans prefer a tax cut for the rich goes counter to their being in that they SHOULD be for cuts for all, theoretically. But then this is Boehners party and traditional Republican values(as I understand them to be) are meaningless. As an independent that usually votes the liberal side of things, it looks to me like the Tea zombies have ruined Boehner's party (pun intended) and that's a good thing for the country. To paraphrase Rush Limbaugh (something I never thought I'd do): I hope they FAIL!!!.