Democrats Should Not Be Afraid to Let Tax Cuts Expire

     Just who's side is Bill Clinton on anyway? He makes a big point now of saying he wants the President to win re-election:

     "Former President Bill Clinton is "aghast" by chatter suggesting that he's hurting President Obama's reelection efforts with at times complimentary comments about Mitt Romney."

    "Responding to a question about a column by POLITICO's Roger Simon, Clinton said on NBC's "Nightly News" that "Mr. Simon may think I should be an employee of the campaign, but I'm not."
Simon wrote in a column published Tuesday that Clinton is "out of control" in his comments on the presidential race and "is pretty good at sabotaging Obama’s strategy."

  "I'm trying to help the president win reelection because I think he's done a better job than most people know," Clinton added. "I think the health care bill is a step in the right direction, not the wrong direction."

  "Clinton said he's been surprised by the controversy his comments about Romney's business career have stirred up."

   "I've been aghast by all this flutter about it," he said. "I don't think I should have to criticize Romney personally to disagree with his politics."

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/06/clinton-insists-he-wants-obama-to-win-125366.html

    Well Mr. President-Clinton will always be the President even while taking him to task here-you may be aghast. But I'm a little aghast at your performance lately. I mean to hear you talk you'd think you are a total political ingenue, not a twice elected President who lived through the GOP's attempt to overturn you're democratically elected presidency.

    Do you think it's even possible that you can try to say things that don't end up in Republican attack ads against the President you say you want re-elected?

    Look I usually chalk all this talk about how Clinton still resents Obama for 2008 and he wants to give Hillary the best chance of winning in 2016 so he's deliberately sabotaging the Obama campaign. And I still do, but sometimes you'd almost wonder.

     He actually was surprised that his comments praising Romney's "sterling business career" and that he did great work at Bain and more that he obviously passes the qualifications test for President was snapped up by Rush Limbaugh as his endorsement. I mean why would you say his business career is sterling? There's not even any proof that it was-Romney has turned down all requests to offer any hard facts about what his performance at Bain was.

     Why more would you offer, completely unbidden to, that Romney passes the qualification test to be President? Isn't that exactly what you want to deny if you really are sincere about wanting Obama to win? What does it say when Bill Clinton has to reassure people that he wants the Democratic President to win re-election?

     Here's Clinton's latest curious attempt to help the President:

     "Former President Bill Clinton said today that he doesn't "have any problem" with extending the Bush Tax Cuts - at least temporarily - in order to "avoid the fiscal cliff" that looms when the across-the-board tax cuts expire at the end of this year."

     "What I think we need to do is find some way to avoid the fiscal cliff, to avoid doing anything that would contract the economy now and then deal with what's necessary in the long term debt-reduction plans as soon as they can, which presumably would be after the election," Clinton said in an interview with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday.

    "When asked if that meant extending the Bush tax cuts, Clinton said "I don't have any problem with extending all of it now."

    "President Obama has called on Congress to allow the tax cuts to expire at the end of the year for people earning more than $250,000."

       http://news.yahoo.com/bill-clinton-doesnt-problem-temporarily-extending-bush-tax-223921911--abc-news-politics.html

      There's two problems with Clinton's statements. First they again have him publicly contradicting the President-if he really has a difference why not deliver this message to him privately if he really wants to help?

       Second, it's very poor advice anyway for the Democrats to right now signal they're willing to extend the top tax rates. Again does Clinton really have no idea of bargaining? The Democrats for once have a hostage they're willing to shoot. The President to his credit has indicated that if they GOP won't negotiate he's willing to let all the tax cuts expire.

       "Any solution to the nation’s fiscal problems remains elusive. Virtually everyone agrees that nothing much will likely be resolved before the election. A lame-duck Congress and president will instead confront a fiscal cliff — when a variety of tax provisions expire at the end of the year and a sequester and debt ceiling loom."

     "But if the Democrats hang tough, allowing these tax cuts to expire and the sequester to go into effect, they can win this battle. Otherwise, I fear, they are toast."

      http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77064.html

      Why is this so hard to get? Why is it that the GOP even in 2009 and 2010 was able to run government as a super minority but the Dems do nothing but shoot themselves in the foot? This is part of it. Just like Scott Walker said to Diane Hendricks-the Republican barracuda billionairess-the GOP strategy is divide and conquer.

      Yet we've got Clinton off the reservation today and yesterday, Cory Booker  the day before yesterday....
      "
       This seems to be what Clinton is arguing for. Does he now need to be briefed before any further public comments?