The top congressional leaders from both parties gathered at the White House for a working discussion over the shape and size of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan. The meeting was designed to promote bipartisanship.
[...]Challenged by one Republican senator over the contents of the package, the new president, according to participants, replied: “I won.”
The statement was prompted by Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona , who challenged the president and the Democratic leaders over the balance between the package’s spending and tax cuts, bringing up the traditional Republican notion that a tax credit for people who do not earn enough to pay income taxes is not a tax cut but a government check.
More of this, please.
Overton window, republicans are asshats, republicans are liars, republicans throw tantrums, Overton window, Overton window, Overton window.
(Edit--Imagine my chargin when I tried to link a previous blog post to this article, using the same argument Obama reportedly made during this conversation, that while people might not earn enough to pay income tax, they certainly pay sales tax, entitlement program taxes, property taxes--one way or another, etc., and realized I had deleted the draft because I couldn't bring it down to a reasonable length. Good on him, shame on me for not working harder to get that post ready in time. Krugman has a post on the disingeniousness of Republicans in regard to the stimulus as proposed, here. Worth a read.)
