Democrats don’t like President Barack Obama’s tax compromise. They’re disappointed. Some may vote against it. But the package still seems destined to pass.
“If the idea is that this is a take-it-or-leave-it deal, I think the president’s going to realize there are going to be a lot of Democrats who are going to be voting ‘no’,” House Democrat Anthony Weiner tells ABC.
The tough-talking New Yorker, one of Obama’s more ferocious critics on the tax issue, has likened the tax discussion Vice President Joe Biden had with House Democrats on Wednesday to a prison brawl.
He calls Obama ”negotiator in chief” for accepting a weak-kneed deal with congressional Republicans and warns the president to pull his socks up or face the consequences: “I have to tell you something: It’s only going to get worse for the president if he allows himself to be pushed around like this,” Weiner says.
The question is which consequences are likely to matter most to Democrats at large.
On a five-state Western tour, Obama began his morning on Thursday with a stop at the “Top Pot” doughnut shop in Seattle, which featured such delectables as Ovaltine Latte, honey-glazed doughnuts and assorted pastries.
