Why Progressives Should Accept the Tax Deal - ReligiousLeftLaw.com

Steve Shiffrin

"I think it is surprising that Obama got as good a deal as he did – particularly since he started the process by negotiating with himself. I am not sure the tax cuts are a good idea - even for the middle class (politically mandatory as they may be). We would be better off with a jobs program that would rebuild our infrastructure and a more generous welfare program (welfare benefits even for the disabled are indefensibly stingy). But the perfect should not be the enemy of the good or even the not-so-good-but-the best-we-can-get."

"The Democrats have established that the Republicans are acting like moral lepers. They have teed up the issue for 2012. Of course, there is an urge not to accept a compromise with the corrupt. But would the Democrats get a better deal in 2011 with a House controlled by Republicans and an easy filibuster in the Senate? And, if the middle class tax cuts are held up while both parties haggle, who is to say that the Democrats will not get a healthy share of the blame? After all, this is the same electorate that voted in the representatives of greed. "

Why Progressives Should Accept the Tax Deal - ReligiousLeftLaw.com

Steve Shiffrin , Cornell Law School, is author "The Religious Left and Church-State Relations (Princeton U. Press 2009)