Politics

Franken on Obama: ‘The President punted on first down’

Chris Moody Chris Moody is a reporter for The Daily Caller.
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Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who voted Monday to proceed on a proposal to extend the Bush-era tax rates, said in an e-mail to supporters that he was “unhappy” with the deal and blasted President Obama because he “punted on first down.”

“A lot of people are unhappy that the President punted on first down, and I’m one of them,” Franken said in a letter Tuesday morning that explained why he voted to support the tax deal. “This isn’t a great deal by any stretch of the imagination. But I got into this line of work because I wanted to stand up for Minnesota families trying to put food on the table and build a better life for their kids. And, for them, the only thing worse than a bad deal would be no deal at all.”

Franken joined a number of liberal Senate Democrats in support of the president’s plan, all of whom have called for a tax increase on the wealthy. The plan would in part extend all current income tax rats for two years, fund unemployment benefits for 13 more months and recalculate the estate tax. Nine Democrats, one independent and five Republicans voted not to move the bill forward.

Franken is certainly not the first to voice frustration with the proposal. In a House Democratic caucus meeting last week, New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner led some to chant “No we can’t!” against pressure from the White House to support the deal and one unnamed Democrat even said, “fuck the president” while a colleague was defending the proposal.

The Senate is set to take a final vote on the measure Tuesday and is likely to pass it, but the bill could meet resistance in the House. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, said Tuesday morning that his caucus was still “pretty cold” to the proposal and has suggested that there will be room to amend it.

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