joining me is jim kessler, vice president for policy at the third way, and james galbrave professor of government affairs and government at the university of texas. gentlemen, let s listen to what president obama said today about compromise. i have no doubt that everyone will find something in this compromise that they don t like. in fact, there are things in here that i don t like. namely the extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest americans and the wealthiest estates. these tax cuts will expire in two years, and i m confident that as we make tough choices about bringing our deficit down, as i engage in a conversation with the american people about the hard choices we re going to have to make to secure our future and our children s future
as we make tough choices about bringing our deficit down, as i engage in a conversation with the american people about the hard choices we re going to have to make to secure our future and our children s future and our grandchildren s future, it will become apparent that we cannot afford to extend those tax cuts any longer. jean, two big stories here. let s get to them. first of all the compromise he s made with republicans. do we know if that sells with the house democrats? we don t know that. in fact, right after the president started speaking i touched base by e-mail with a senior aide over in the house, and they don t know where the votes are right now. they have not had an opportunity own with their people. portunity some of the early reaction has been from progressives has been to blame the republicans and not necessarily the president. if he stays along those lines, they should be all right, but the progressive base is very hot
find things in the compromise they don t like. there are things i don t like. namely extension of tax cut for the wealthiest americans and the wealthiest estates. the tax cuts will expire in two years. i m confident that as we make tough choices about bringing our deficit down, as i engage in a conversation with the american people about the hard choices we re going to have to make to secure our future, and our children s future and grandchildren s future it will become apparent we cannot afford to extent those tax cuts any longer. as for now, i believe this bipartisan plan is the right thing to do. the right thing to do for jobs, right thing to do for the middle class. it s the right thing to do for business. it s the right thing to do for our economy. it offers us an opportunity that we need to seize. it s not perfect. this compromise is an essential step on the road to recovery. it will stop the middle class taxes from going up. it will spur our private
bipartisan agreement on a framework for a deal. the republicans have asked for more generous treatment of the estate tax than i think is wise or warranted. but we have insisted that that will be temporary. i have no doubt that everyone will find something in this compromise that they don t like. in fact, there are things that i don t like, namely, the extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, and the wealthiest estates. but these tax cuts will expire in two years. and i m confident that as we make tough choices about bringing our deficit down, as i engage in a conversation with the american people about the hard choices we re going to have to make to secure our future and our children s future and our grandchildren s future, it will become apparent that we cannot afford to extend those tax cuts any longer. in return, republicans would sign off in extending unemployment insurance by another 13 months. and a 2% decrease in the payroll
vice president for policy at the third way, and james galbrave professor of government affairs and government at the university of texas. gentlemen, let s listen to what president obama said today about compromise. i have no doubt that everyone will find something in this compromise that they don t like. in fact, there are things in here that i don t like. namely the extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest americans and the wealthiest estates. these tax cuts will expire in two years, and i m confident that as we make tough choices about bringing our deficit down, as i engage in a conversation with the american people about the hard choices we re going to have to make to secure our future and our children s future and our grandchildren s future, it will become apparent we cannot afford to extend those tax cuts any longer. as for now, i believe this