House Dems are refusing to support the tax cut deal in its current form and holding out for changes to some of its most onerous elements, most prominently the estate tax provision. Yet all indications are that it's going to pass anyway, with overwhelming Republican support, and it seems to be moving forward in the Senate.
That's not to say that House Dems can't have some kind of impact on the deal. In a statement after the vote, Nancy Pelosi pledged that Dems would not allow the measure to move forward in its current form, vowing to "improve the proposal before it comes to the House floor for a vote."
But it's anyone's guess what kind of concessions House Dems can win, and more broadly, there's something poignant about this whole scene. House Dems have erupted in anger and frustration repeatedly in recent months, taking tough votes on big items on Obama's agenda that then died or got badly watered down in the Senate. House Dems wanted a bigger stimulus, and it didn't happen. Senate procedural dithering was largely what soured the public on the process, harming Dems in the midterms. Yet House Dems are the ones who took it on the chin and are headed into the minority.
And here you have the same frustrations playing out again. House Dems were able to pass just an extension of the middle class tax cuts. But to no avail: Like a rerun of a bad movie, it failed in the Senate, and Obama decided his only recourse was to cut a deal to extend the high-end tax cuts.
Now their fury has boiled over one last time, to the point where they're chanting "just say no" in unison. For many House Dems, seeing Obama make this deal was the ultimate sell-out.As usual, House Democrats are the last firewall holding back the diluted and compromised policies of Obama and his Senate co-conciliators. A classic Pelosi move, actually. She may not prevail, but she has certainly sent a message. Obama, watch the master: This is how it's done.
With bargaining savvy like that, you'd swear she was a Republican.
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