i don't think that obama is credible when he says that he'll veto extension of the bush tax cuts, no matter how flatly and with how much oomph he says so. he always backs off on that sort of thing, which is one reason he is descending into being dismissed or even despised. i would think, indeed, that he'll take it all back well before the election, or else 'raising taxes on middle-class families' will be the stick with which the rep nominee will drive him back to chicago. if we're in recession or stagnation, increasing taxes will appear irresponsible. if the economy is expanding, it will threaten to screw up the progress. it seems likely that, say, david axelrod actually already knows this; if so, then the threats are strategic suicide. all the reps in the debate last night are singing the same song: no leadership. they've got a point.
i have a rule of parenting, which i have unsuccessfully tried to convey to the mothers of my children: no empty threats. you have two choices: don't say 'one more time, and we're just going to turn this car around and go home'; or, after one more time, turn the car around and go home. it's mere manipulation, but the emptiness of the threat will make it ineffective even as manipulation. the problem is that you work yourself up into a tizzy in which you believe you believe it, even though it's obvious to everyone else that you don't, and if you remembered the last 26 times, you'd know you don't too.
