Jake Tapper at ABChas a good detail about what The White House's post-January 1 strategy will be if Obama can't come to a deal with the House GOP on taxes.
One scenario the official discussed included the president barn-storming the country, telling the public that Democrats will put forward a bill to restore middle class tax cuts as soon as Congress convenes, and calling on them to pressure Republican congressional leaders to stop holding those tax cuts hostage in exchange for tax cuts for wealthier Americans.
So basically the deal is: Before January 1, Obama tries to get the GOP to freeze middle class taxes, and let upper-class (above $250K) taxes go back to pre-Bush levels. The GOP doesn't want to do this, and wants all the taxes to be held down together. This is a major sticking point. But they all go up on Jan. 1, and then the plan is for Obama to hector the GOP into just cutting middle class ones.
One other key thing here: Obama is already just by hinting this, looking more aggressive than he did at any point in the first term, when he was mostly on defense.
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