Democrats Will Get Their Turn When Bush Tax Cuts Expire

July 28, 2011

Democrats Will Get Their Turn When Bush Tax Cuts Expire

Because of a political dynamic "that lends itself to a ransom," Ezra Klein says Democrats will ultimately lose the fight on the debt ceiling because they can't allow the government to default.

But their negotiating leverage will be reversed when the Bush tax cuts expire just before the end of President Obama's current term.

"This scenario is the inverse of the current debt-ceiling debate, in which inaction will lead to an outcome -- a government default -- that Democrats can't stomach and Republicans think they can... Next year's deadline on the Bush tax cuts offers Democrats their only chance to negotiate from a superior strategic position. Republicans will still be able to refuse to raise taxes. But if they do, it won't matter."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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July 28, 2011