Palin not helping to advance GOP interests with her "flip-flop" comments

Ryan Streeter

Sarah Palin called Barack Obama a "flip-flopper" today on Good Morning America. Her argument is that President Obama was "so adamant" about raising taxes on higher earners that his tax deal should not be seen as an act of compromise but as a flip-flop. She also said:

Congress, hold off on this, President Obama just hold off on this. Let's let the new Congress be seated and let's do this right.

So here's the underlying logic of this position:

• In order to get an extension of all of the tax cuts signed into law, we need the President of the United States to sign it. But if he does, he is a flip-flopper. And we'll call him out for betraying his lefty principles.
• We should let taxes go up on all Americans on January 1 and ask the American people to trust that when Congress returns, the new GOP House majority will be able to force a better deal...and get the President to flip-flop again and sign it. 

There are plenty of problems with the tax bill. And one can coherently argue against it. But, sorry Sarah, this is not the way to put forward a view on tax reform on a national morning TV show.

Opponents of the bill have to say more about whether they actually believe we should have let taxes go up on January 1 had the bill not passed, or whether and how they think a better deal was really possible before the end of the year. Anything else is posturing. And calling the President a flip-flopper only makes matters worse. Obama's many things, but unfortunately for Republicans, he's not a flip-flopper.

It's worth revisiting the 5 criteria I laid out on Tuesday for making the GOP a smarter party. When it comes to talking about the tax deal, and more importantly, what to do about taxes going forward, an aspiring candidate like Sarah Palin has got to do better.

Comments

[Drake]

As someone who likes Sarah Palin a lot, I agree with you 100%. Those who wanted taxes to go up so they could 'own the issue' were playing with fire. Working America expected the tax cuts issue to be resolved cleanly. Had it not been, regardless of what followed, those who blocked it would have paid a severe political price.

[Our America Initiative]

Yet another example of how Sarah Palin is unfit to be President.

Letting taxes go up for ordinary Americans just to make a political point is not the sort of thing a potential President lets happen.

[Steevo]

Maybe it depends on the definition of flip flopper? Not even Obama's diehard followers are very happy with his, let's just say, change of mind. In fact many are outraged he will not put to end most of Bush's policies but instead ratify so many. After all, he got votes for such "change".

Guantanamo Bay is not closed and probably won't be. We still have 10s of thousands of troops in Iraq and they'll remain at least through 2011. There are almost 100,000 in Afghanistan and their earliest withdrawal is 2014. His administration has expanded wire tapping, not decrease the levels under Bush. He claims the right to kill al Qaeda linked terrorists even if they're American citizens and without trial. There won't be a KSM trial as he now claims a military tribunal will be wiser. There will be no summits with leaders of rogue nations and bring peace as only he can do although he did meet and smile with Chavez.

On the domestic front there won't be union card check and no cap-and-trade. He denounced Bush's recess appointments but has regularly used the ability. He claimed bills would be posted 5 days before being signed into law, instead he's shoved legislation down our throats.

In other words a slew of major points for hope and change he campaigned on were largely feel-good promises that once in office are understood as impossible, stupid, or he could give a damn. Can he be called a flip flopper? Bush Jr. was a flip flopper and Senior too, time and again that point has been made especially from the Left. Maybe someone aside from Palin can make the case?