OBAMA ‘AMUSED’ BY TEA PARTY NONSENSE…. As a rule, President Obama goes to great lengths — perhaps even too far, on occasion — to avoid partisan rhetoric. It’s why it’s all the more satisfying when the president appears at party fundraisers and let’s his guard down a little.
Obama appeared at a DNC event in Miami last night, and as part of his remarks, he reflected on the Tea Party gatherings. The president conceded that he’s “amused” by all the fuss.
“[S]ince today happens to be Tax Day, I should just point out that one third of the Recovery Act went to tax cuts — tax cuts that strengthened the cornerstone of the American Dream: working for a living, earning an education, owning a home, raising a family,” he said. “We cut taxes for 95% of working Americans, just like I promised we would on the campaign. That made a difference for 7 million families in Florida alone. We cut taxes on small businesses. We cut taxes for students and parents paying for college. We cut taxes for first-time homebuyers, more than 128,000 here in Florida. In all, we passed 25 different tax cuts last year. And one thing we haven’t done is raise income taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year — another promise that we kept.
“So I’ve been a little amused over the last couple of days where people have been having these rallies about taxes. You would think they would be saying, ‘Thank you.’”
The comments were not well received by the right, but it’s hardly an unreasonable point. Right-wing activists started rallying in March to complain about taxes, less than a month after Obama gave them a tax cut. It’s hardly a surprise they’re going to be subjected to some mockery.
