Tax Cut Advocates Can't Add

Christina Bellantoni reports on President Obama's pragmatism on tax cuts and the deficit for Talking Points Memo.

I would love to do it, anybody in elected office would love nothing more than to give everybody tax cuts ... not cut services, make sure that I'm providing help to student loans, make sure that we're keeping our roads safe and our bridges safe, make sure that we're paying for our veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. At some point the numbers just don't work, so what I've said is very simple. Let's go ahead and move forward on what we agree to ... everybody would get tax relief, just up to $250,000 a year or more, and let's get the economy moving faster.

Republicans pushing to extend the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000 undermine their own credibility on the deficit. Economists on both sides agree that meaningful deficit reduction will require tax increases as well as spending cuts. Yet, as polls show surging numbers for the GOP in the coming mid-term elections, one has to wonder if anyone is paying attention.

--Ballard Burgher