An absolute disaster

"Sens. Feingold, Franken, Brown, Boxer, Merkley, Whitehouse, Durbin, Harkin, and Schumer: You are our progressive heroes and we need you now. Please join Sen. Bernie Sanders and do everything you can to block the 'deal' to extend the Bush tax bailout for millionaires." Sign the petition

Dear MoveOn member,

Last night, President Obama announced that he's giving in to the GOP and extending the Bush tax breaks for the rich.¹

The "deal" he's proposing is an "absolute disaster," as Senator Bernie Sanders said.²

But it's not a done deal. Leading Democrat Chris Van Hollen said yesterday that "House Democrats have not signed off on any deal," and last night Senator Sanders vowed to "do whatever I can to see that 60 votes are not acquired to pass this piece of legislation."³

Senator Sanders and other progressives in the Senate are our best hope to stop this terrible deal. But Bernie can't do it alone.

The clock's ticking. Can you sign a petition today to leading progressives in the Senate—Sens. Feingold, Franken, Brown (OH), Boxer, Merkley, Whitehouse, Durbin, Harkin, and Schumer—urging them to stand up and use the filibuster to block this awful "deal"?

http://pol.moveon.org/no_bailout/?id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=3

The petition says: "Sens. Feingold, Franken, Brown, Boxer, Merkley, Whitehouse, Durbin, Harkin, and Schumer: You are our progressive heroes and we need you now. Please join Sen. Bernie Sanders and do everything you can to block the 'deal' to extend the Bush tax bailout for millionaires."

The deal President Obama agreed to with Republicans would extend the Bush tax breaks for the top 2% of earners for two years, extend unemployment insurance for 13 months, and cut the payroll tax for one year, among other things.⁴

Tomorrow, we'll deliver your petition signatures to the Senate along with a visual message the Senate and news media can't miss: a supply of cots and copies of the U.S. Constitution—the tried and true provisions of any good filibuster.

Congress and the White House need to see the incredible lack of support for this deal. And that lack of support is very real: an overnight survey of a random sample of MoveOn members found 4:1 in opposition, while a poll of Obama campaign donors found that a whopping 74% are opposed to President Obama's deal.⁵

Strong opposition is no surprise, given what the deal really means: a tax break of an incredible $83,347 for the top 1% of earners in the U.S.—far more than most working Americans make in a year.⁶ And as Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman explains, a two-year millionaire bailout—the cornerstone of the deal—is just bad policy:

"First, temporary tax breaks for the rich are stunningly bad economic policy...[and a two-year extension] would still be much more expensive than measures like aid to the unemployed and to small businesses that would do far more for the economy, yet spent months held up in Congress because of alleged concerns about the deficit."⁷

We can't capitulate to the GOP on this terrible deal, and it's up to progressive leaders in the Senate to stop it. Can you sign the petition right away?

http://pol.moveon.org/no_bailout/?id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Amy, Wes, Kat, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Liberals find Obama's tax cut deal positively revolting," The Sacramento Bee, December 6, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205411&id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=5

"Republicans achieve top goal in Obama tax-cut plan," The Associated Press, December 7, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205417&id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=6

2. "Obama-GOP Tax Deal 'an Absolute Disaster,' Says Bernie Sanders, as Filibuster Talk Stirs," The Nation, December 7, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205413&id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=7

3. "Liberals find Obama's tax cut deal positively revolting," The Sacramento Bee, December 6, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205411&id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=8

"Obama-GOP tax deal agitates Democrats," The Seattle Times, December 7, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205412&id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=9

"Sen. Sanders Threatens To Filibuster Obama Tax Deal," YouTube, December 6, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAboE_ahSa4

4. "Deal Struck on Tax Package," The Wall Street Journal, December 7, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205416&id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=10

5. "Poll: Obama supporters strongly opposed to deal extending Bush tax cuts," The Washington Post, December 7, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205414&id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=11

6. "Richest Americans could buy a $83,000 Mercedes every year if Bush tax cuts extended, or light 800 pricey cigars with $100 bills," The Raw Story, November 19, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205415&id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=12

7. "Tax cuts for the rich? No." The New York Times, September 17, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205214&id=25405-10220574-hSZYL3x&t=13

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