President Obama is keenly aware of the fact that his 2012 reelection bid will depend in large measure on the state of the economy, in particular unemployment. He also knows that the dismal jobless numbers are unlikely to get significantly better before November 2012, and may even get worse.
Those gloomy facts have forced Obama to pursue a cynical agenda which, rather than legitimately working to create jobs, seeks to draw Republicans into legislative wars that will expose conservatives as Scrooge-like scoundrels bent on protecting the unfair tax advantages enjoyed by the rich.
By proposing to extend payroll-tax deductions for the middle-class while paying for same with increased taxes on the rich, Obama and friends were licking their chops with glee at the prospects of a vote that would have GOPers abandoning their war on taxes just to placate the well-to-do upper classes.
It all seemed to be a perfect Marxist class-war scenario, and so what if the plan was nothing more than a contrived political gimmick?
For a while, it seemed that the president had outsmarted the Republicans and had established a core issue on which to base his 2012 campaign.
However, some clever folks in the GOP pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat: Namely, by all means, extend the payroll-tax reduction and clear the way for the Keystone XL project to commence immediately, rather than placing the project on hold until 2013 as Obama had mandated.
The Keystone XL project could add as many as 20,000 jobs to the economy!
So, why wait, Mr. President? As you have argued so persistently, the American people need jobs now!
Should Obama scuttle the GOP proposal to link the payroll-tax reduction to Keystone XL, HE and the Democrats will be guilty of raising taxes on the middle class WHILE refusing to approve a project that will add jobs!
Such is the world of big-league politics in Washington, D.C., even at Christmas!
The big question: Will Obama’s Anti-Rich Anti-Energy Obsessions Result a in “Blue Christmas” for Middle Class?
John W. Lillpop
San Jose, California
John W. Lillpop is a recovering liberal. “Clean and sober” since 1992 when last he voted for a Democrat. For years, John lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, the very liberal sanctuary city which protects, rather than prosecutes, certain favored criminals. John escaped the Bay Area in May and now lives in Pine Grove California where conservative values are still in vogue.
