The 2% Solution

When the President spoke yesterday about preserving the current income tax cuts for 98% of the public, and allowing the tax rates for the top 2% to rise to the levels during the Clinton Administration, he was again drawing contrast with the Rethuglicans' mania about protecting the wealthiest Americans (i.e., contributors).
By saying that Rethugs should move ahead with him and the Dems to extend the vast majority of tax relief, but to let the decision on the top incomes to wait until after the elections, the President has set up an election issue that bodes ill for plutocrat weirdo Willard "Millionaire Mittens" Romney: it's fairness vs. feed the greed. As today's New York Times' editorial states:

"There will never be consensus for solving the nation’s budget problems without first ending the lavish tax breaks at the top. In the near term, letting the high-end tax cuts expire would raise much-needed revenue without harming the recovery because tax increases on high-income Americans do not cut into consumer spending nearly as much as middle-class taxes. The revenue that could be raised — about $850 billion over 10 years — would be a significant step toward reducing the deficit and financing programs to spur the economy."

Don't expect the Rethugs in Congress to work with the President on such a no-brainer. Their mantra of "taxing the job creators" -- false as it is -- is their only game until the election. But the public will be treated to the spectacle of a party lined up to protect the wealth of the few against the vast majority, with their standard-bearer being Mr. 1% himself: the Swiss bank / Cayman Islands / Bermuda corporation guy with the countless homes...who likes to fire people, and ship their jobs overseas.