Tell Udall and Bennet: No Deal

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by: Alan

The headlines from Washington this morning are absolutely infuriating. It’s time for progressives to stand up and fight.

The U.S. House has passed legislation that is critical for America’s long-term security and solvency: ending the Bush tax cuts for Americans who make over $250,000 per year. Ending these 2003 tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans will raise $700 billion dollars or more to reduce the federal deficit over the next decade, and meet our obligations to future generations.

As usual, Republicans in the U.S. Senate are standing in the way–and worse, Democrats in Washington are reportedly considering giving in to their irresponsible grandstanding (New York Times, 12/6/2010).

Send a message to our Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet right now: tell them NO DEAL. No more extensions of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Colorado progressives are tired of watching Democrats in Washington cave in to the right wing. Poll after poll shows the American people–and the people of Colorado–overwhelmingly support ending the Bush tax cuts for those earning $250,000 or more per year. We can all agree that the economy hasn’t gotten better since 2003, so what have the Bush tax cuts even accomplished?

Both Udall and Bennet have said they would prefer to only continue these tax cuts for the middle class and working families, but progressives need more than talk. What America needs are principled leaders who will take a stand for what they claim to believe. If Mark Udall and Michael Bennet really view deficit reduction as a priority, ending Bush’s irresponsible tax cuts for the rich–while preserving them for those who truly need relief–is the place to start.

And the time is now. Thanks for standing up for our common interests, and for reminding our elected officials that we sent them to Washington, as opposed to their opponents, for a reason.

8 thoughts on “Tell Udall and Bennet: No Deal”

DavidThi808 says:

December 7, 2010 at 5:13 pm

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jpsandscl says:

December 7, 2010 at 5:40 pm

as has been argued on a different thread, we’re screwed on this because all the Rs and a few Dems will vote against cloture on everything else until the Rs get to extend their obscene tax breaks for the obscenely wealthy.

And they have no political price to pay for their votes as they live in conservative states where the citizens actually believe they should support their upper classes while they struggle through their own faults with high unemployment. But at least all those unemployed can take great solace in the fact that they are helping contribute to the greatest shift of wealth to the top percentile in our nation’s history. They should be proud!

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Muhammad Ali Hasan says:

December 8, 2010 at 5:44 pm

…friends… the common voter is not going to believe that all of our problems will get solved by gouging the rich

Do we, as liberals, really want to press hard for real, fiscal change, that will really solve America?

Then here goes –

1. Reinstate the Glass Steagall Act

2. Prosecute every corporate banker that cooked and manipulated books, for the sake of profiting from bailout money, an action that still has our entire country wavering in the doldrums between Recession and Depression

A message needs to be sent that will prevent fiscal fraud – you cook your books, you go to jail – end of story

Gouging ‘rich’ people is not going to save our economy or America

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1. redstateblues says:
  
  December 8, 2010 at 8:22 pm
  
  Are you a liberal? At least when it comes to fiscal matters.
  
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2. Fidel's dirt nap says:
  
  December 8, 2010 at 10:11 pm
  
  is not “gouging” anyone.
  
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  1. Laughing Boy says:
    
    December 9, 2010 at 8:42 pm
    
    That you guys are talking like it was never their money in the first place – that it naturally just belongs to the government.
    
    It’s a fundamental flaw in philosophy, IMO.
    
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    1. Fidel's dirt nap says:
      
      December 14, 2010 at 2:33 am
      
      for providing the foundations of commerce that they profit from, including a safe country governed by the rule of law, with a well established commercial code, minimized corruption, excellent infrastructure, transportation system, etc. etc.
      
      What, they want that shit for free ? (don’t answer that question)
      
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Laughing Boy says:

December 8, 2010 at 7:34 pm

You’ve just broken my Schadenfreude enjoyment meter.

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