Bush has won the tax fight. By default.

Not because Bush tax policy is good, but because the Democrats have caved.  Once again, they have accepted the opposition's framing of an issue and tailored their arguments to fit with that very limiting framework.

Julian E. Zelizer, a professor at Princeton University who has written a book assessing the historical impact of Bush’s presidency, says Bush has won the debate over taxes.

“Bush has already won the debate because a lot of people will see their rates stay the way they are,” Zelizer said. “Obama is working within the framework that President Bush established instead of starting his own agenda in these areas of policy.”

Liberal advocates who favor higher taxes to support government programs designed to create jobs agree that Bush has won a big part of the tax debate.

“It is stunning we’re heading into this period where everyone is focused on deficit reduction to the point they want to go after Social Security and the starting point is that they want to extend the Bush tax cuts for families earning under $250,000,” said Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, a liberal advocacy group. ...The Hill

Comments

[Fred Beloit]

Hi, Prair, hope you are doing well today. You know, I gots to thinking last night while I war havin a cocktail (h/t Don Imus) that there is something very illogical and inconsistent on the Left's positions on gay marriage and tax law.

The main argument, as I understand it, for changing the laws on marriage is that there is no equality before the law if gay marriage is not allowed. That is, straights can get married, but gays cannot. There must be equality before the law to allow gays to marry as well.

But, Prair, where is the equality before the law in our tax laws. Some people are not required to pay taxes, some other people actually receive funds from the tax laws because they pay no taxes, yet other people pay at rates that are totally arbitrary, set by Congress for strictly arbitrary, I kindly won't say capricious or simply political reasons. Why isn't the Left opposing this inequality before the law?