As expected: Obama extends Bush's tax cuts for the rich

So the deal has been signed in the interests of unity, unity between the rich and the richer.  Obama has announced the agreement we all knew was coming, the extension of the Bush era tax cuts to "All" Americans, you and Bill Gates.  That's what fairness is all about.  Everyone sharing the pain and everyone sharing the gain. "United We Stand", "We are all Americans" "One nation indivisible" and all that.

President Obama said that he  won't "let working families become collateral damage for political warfare". The great victory being that Unemployment benefits will also be renewed under the agreement.  Congress will have to vote on the deal which is a complete turnaround from the President's former position that that tax cuts should only be extended at incomes up to $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples.

 The BBC  gave this overview of the deal which includes:

• A two-year extension of income tax cuts for all Americans enacted in 2001 and 2003 under former President Bush
• A 13-month extension of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed
• A 35% tax for two years on estates worth more than $5m
• A Social Security tax cut that would see the tax drop from 6.2% of pay to 4.2% for one year
• Allowing businesses to write off all their capital investments for tax purposes during 2011
• Extending the Earned Income Tax Credit, the child tax credit and tuition credits

President Obama said he opposed an extension of tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans, but  a deal with Republicans was more important than allowing the tax cuts to expire on 1 January 2011 with political deadlock.  During his campaign, Obama gathered some 4 million e mails and six million in all in a data base.  This is no small grouping.  I remember seeing young people in the streets that were involved in their first ever political campaign.  The alternative with "deals with the Republicans" is mobilizing that base isn't it?  It is calling on workers communities and youth to protest, rally, strike to force the rich to back off. We need political warfare of a different type.

But he can't do that can he?  He is a representative of the rich in a political party that represents the interests of the rich, the former party of the slave owners, the Democrats. The trade Union leaders atop the AFL-CIO and Change to Win Coalition will let this slip by and make no mention of it if they can help it.  They will try to blame the Republicans and get Obama and the Democrats off the hot seat.  In all the years I was a delegate to my Central Labor Council in this county there was never any analysis after these betrayals by Democrats.  Never any discussion as to why they do it all the time other than to call them names, make it personal rather than political.

To discuss it is too dangerous because the alternative  becomes obvious real quick like.  "We need to run our own candidates", the average worker will say at some point without the help of the professional staffers and leftists that vegetate on the fringes of the working class and organized Labor movement. It will be the "professional" Labor experts that will hold back such a movement and if they can't then they will do what they can to temper it, render it harmless.  There is nothing that frightens them more than a genuine independent  movement of workers and youth.

So this issue goes in to the same garbage can as EFCA (remember EFCA) the government option for health care, Nafta and all the other betrayals. Let's see what the AFL-CIO website says, surely they must be savaging Obama and the Democrats.  Oh, lets get pass this silly counter that tells us how many jobless people have lost benefits since November 30. 

Lets see, "Join Us for National Online Solidarity Day with Jobless Workers", no, that's not it. 

"Update your status on Facebook and Twitter to say you're "in solidarity with jobless workers."  No, its not that.

Here's what the experts and strategists at the helm of the AFl-CIO will use to say a victory has been had "Urge Congress to extend emergency unemployment for long-term jobless workers."  "You see" they'll say, "We urged Congress and with the President's blessing they'll extend them." "Yeah, we lost the other bit, where the rich get richer but its a victory, you have to take baby steps."


I don't know how many times I've heard "baby steps" from Union leaders earning upward of $200,000 a year.


Who knows what will happen in the next election?  The disillusionment with Obama will no doubt drive more people to abandon electoral politics altogether possibly.