"Preserving tax cuts for rich comes 2nd to the Republicans' primary goal, which is to destroy Obama"

Even with tax cuts, GOP appears willing to shoot the hostage
By Adam Serwer

The debate on ABC's This Week between former Reagan Office of Management and Budget director David Stockman and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence (R) was instructive in how Republicans view their immediate policy priorities. While Stockman was urging expiration of the Bush tax cuts to reduce the deficit, Pence insisted that they should be extended, because Republicans aren't so much interested in reducing the deficit as they are cutting taxes for the wealthy, and they've done an excellent job of convincing the media to avoid noting the contradiction.

On 60 Minutes, President Obama indicated he'd be willing to compromise with Republicans by extending the tax cuts for the middle class permanently while possibly agreeing to a temporary extension of the cuts for the wealthy. House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, meanwhile, said Republicans would refuse the White House proposal to "decouple" the rates in such a manner.

A comment from an anonymous GOP operative reinforces the political dynamic I described last week:

Republicans, meanwhile, have been less accommodating, with some suggesting that they could simply hold off until January, when they will control the House and hold a stronger hand in the Senate. That would set the stage for a more powerful push to permanently extend all the cuts -- the preferred GOP alternative.

"They might blame GOP obstructionism. But, you know, people are going to start missing a lot of money in their weekly paychecks in January. And there's only going to be one person in the White House," said a Republican House aide, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe party thinking.

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But because Republicans win either way, they have no incentive to compromise, and can simply hold out for whatever they want. The more willing to negotiate the White House appears, the more likely Republicans are to move the goal posts. As with health-care reform, Republicans are left with the stronger negotiating position because they're willing to shoot the hostage. The deficit doesn't matter, and even preserving tax cuts for the wealthy comes second to the Republicans' primary goal, which is to destroy the president.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/11/even_with_tax_cuts_republicans.html