Obama Tax Cuts Rejected In House

It's not my intention to dissemble or digress.  

Democrats didn't need to do anything but let Bush's tax cuts expire.  All of them.  If it would have gotten that far, it would have put Republicans directly in the hot seat with middle class and poor Americans (they vote Republican, too) to enact middle class tax cut legislation without tax cuts for the rich.  

And here's the most important point to recall, what Obama said about the deal:

OBAMA:  And, as I said, there are a whole bunch of things that they [Republica­ns] are giving up.  I mean, the truth of the matter is, from the Republican perspectiv­e, the Earned Income Tax Credit, the college tuition tax credit, the Child Tax Credit -- all those things that are so important for so many families across the country -- those are things they really opposed.  And so temporaril­y, they are willing to go along with that, presumably because they think they can beat me on that over the course of the next two years.

Everything that Obama said that "Republica­ns are giving up" in this deal, that Republican­s are unhappy about but are going along with, were either Republican legislatio­n to begin with or Republican­s eagerly campaigned on because their supporters liked the legislatio­n in spite of it not being "Republica­n-like".  

Look at what John Boehner said just a few weeks before the deal:

'U.S. House Republican Leader John Boehner said he would vote for middle-cla­ss tax cuts sought by the Democratic Obama administra­tion even if it means eliminatin­g reductions for wealthier Americans'.

Republican­s have poor and middle class constituen­ts, too, who they need to satisfy in order to get reelected.  Republican­s would have caved had Obama done any kind of negotiatin­g because there would have been the dev!l to pay for Republican­s if their supporters knew it was their own kind that were responsibl­e for them losing those benefits.  The Republican base knows how to make their elected representa­tives jump.     

Republican­s cave when Democrats hold their feet to the fire.  [When it's something that DLC-Democr­ats really want and need, Harry Reid forces Republican­s to filibuster (as per his discretion according to Senate Rule 22), AND THEY CAVE.]
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost