CLOSED MINDS

Is there not one, single, responsible Republican voice that will concede the possibility of ending the Bush era tax cuts for even the wealthiest Americans? Not one, single dissent from the already long-discredited party mantra? Impossible to believe that such lock-step, hard-headed unanimity results from any real thought about the issues involved, or any willingness to engage in serious discussion. I was impressed by President Obama's speech yesterday. I appreciated the commitment not to capitulate on Medicare, and the implied threat to veto any attempt to perpetuate deficit-creating tax cuts. I noted my approval on my new blog, VoteObama 2012. (Please note that the site is still under construction, and is not yet fully workable. I have not yet decided quite how it will look, and I'm still hoping for partners and contributors. Anyone with me on this?)

While I deplore the closed minds of Republicans on the subject of reasonable tax increases, I don't want Obama to allow this to become a negotiable issue. I'm with Nicholas D. Kristof in today's New York Times: raise America's taxes. It's absurd that this has been absent from all discussion of the deficit to date. I'm glad that the President finally challenged his opponents and laid it on the table. I for one am willing to pay a fair share, and I believe that many of the wealthy are, too.