"Obama Returns To The Campaign Trail For Tax Push"

BuzzFeed Politics:

The Obama White House is looking to the 2011 battle over the debt ceiling as a cautionary tale for this year's fiscal standoff, crafting a far more aggressive public relations campaign to fend off Republican policy demands. During the mid-2011 debt ceiling fight, House Republicans credibly threatened to send the economy into a tailspin by refusing to raise the nation's borrowing limit, escalating the conflict and forcing Democrats into a defensive position. Meanwhile, rather than take his case to the public, Obama wavered between closed-door negotiations with congressional leaders and angry statements to the press. Now the president is making his case directly to the people. This month, fresh from his reelection victory, Obama plans to keep the fight public, at the cost of any imagined backroom goodwill. The president will hit the road to push his agenda on the fiscal cliff this Friday, traveling to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Obama will "continue making the public case for action by visiting a business that depends on middle-class consumers during the holiday season," a White House official said. White House aides believe Obama's inside-the-beltway approach to the last crisis contributed to the Republican wins after they took back the House in 2010 on multiple government shutdowns and tax votes. Now Obama aides believe they have more leverage — with Republicans particularly wary of a tax hike on the top 2% of wage-earners, a tax-increase plan validated, the White House believes, by the presidential election. Tax rates will go up for everyone at the end of the year, and Obama believes he can win by advocating for the 98%. MORE...