Stepping Back From the Ledge

Photo/Wikipedia

by Emily Steinberg

I'm stepping back from the edge or the ledge or whatever it is I was standing on yesterday when I heard the President was compromising with the GOP on extensions of the Bush tax cuts. Yes, I'm livid that Millionaires and Billionaires are going to reap hundreds of thousands of dollars because of the deal. And yes, I'm seething that the inheritance tax is also being lowered. But in the end, I believe this deal will be good for the country. It forces the Republicans to take ownership of legislation and moves the President to the center, something he dearly needs to do.

President Obama, at the news conference yesterday, remains the smartest voice in the room. He spoke about the need for compromise, how the whole country doesn't follow the dictates of the New York Times Editorial Board, nor does it follow lock step behind the Wall Street Journals opinionators. He is reasonable and thoughtful and dare I say, mature. This is part of what he had to say:

America was built on compromise said the President. If we don't compromise.... "People will have the satisfaction of having a purist position and no victories for the American people. And we will be able to feel good about ourselves and sanctimonious about how pure our intentions are and how tough we are, and in the meantime, the American people are still seeing themselves not able to get health insurance because of preexisting conditions or not being able to pay their bills because their unemployment insurance ran out.

That can't be the measure of how we think about our public service. That can't be the measure of what it means to be a Democrat. This is a big, diverse country. Not everybody agrees with us. I know that shocks people. The New York Times editorial page does not permeate across all of America. Neither does The Wall Street Journal editorial page. Most Americans, they're just trying to figure out how to go about their lives and how can we make sure that our elected officials are looking out for us. And that means because it's a big, diverse country and people have a lot of complicated positions, it means that in order to get stuff done, we're going to compromise. This is why FDR, when he started Social Security, it only affected widows and orphans. You did not qualify. And yet now it is something that really helps a lot of people. When Medicare was started, it was a small program. It grew."

I'm still with you Mr. President.