Obama The Compromiser, Takes Final Plunge Into The Abyss, Bringing Nation With Him

In the oval office, Obama quietly sings to himself...

Only the lonely
Know the way I feel tonight
Only the lonely
Know this feeling ain't right

Only the lonely...


From Reuters.

Testy Obama fires back at Democrats over tax deal

(Reuters) - A testy President Barack Obama on Tuesday expressed frustration at his own Democrats for attacking him over his tax-cut deal with Republicans, who he called uncompromising "hostage takers."

Obama found himself in an unusual position a day after sealing a major tax-cut agreement -- praised by Republican opponents and denounced by liberal Democrats who felt he violated a pledge that helped get him elected in 2008.

Liberals accused him of caving to Republican demands by agreeing to extend all the Bush-era tax cuts, even those for wealthier Americans, instead of their preference for limiting the tax cuts to families making less than $250,000 a year.

Obama's tax-cut deal could be seen as a move toward the political center after November 2 elections in which Democrats suffered huge losses.

He said he could have spent months arguing the Democrats' position but that it would have risked further damage to the economy.

Obama leveled some of his toughest criticism to date at the left wing of the Democratic Party, saying his critics were taking a "sanctimonious" position that would not have helped solve problems.

His voice rose and he sounded exasperated when he said if he had refused to compromise, "People will have the satisfaction of having a purist position and no victories for the American people."

The country was founded on the principle of compromise...