According to the Huffington Post, David Axelrod suggested to reporters late Wednesday that the Obama administration would be compromising on the extension of the Bush tax cuts. The news may seem appropriate to conservatives and Blue Dog democrats, but for most liberals, it registers on the shock chart as unbelievable.

It’s not that it’s so shocking that the Obama administration would compromise. After all, they’ve made moving to the right and telegraphing that position a mainstay of their failed negotiation and bargaining strategy.  The most glaring aspect of this particular issue is that in the aftermath of the midterm losses, when they should be doing everything they can to reenergize the people who got them elected, they choose instead to cave. It’s so inspiring.

If the story is indeed true, and compromise is once again the administration’s chosen path, it becomes exceedingly difficult to defend against claims that President Obama is a party to the corporate takeover of America. It essentially forces the conclusion that Obama cares no more about the middle class than do the congressional Republicans.

Axelrod frames the issue around a change in political climate forced by the election. His “We have to deal with the world as we find it” explanation of how the administration’s hands are now tied is nothing but a pathetic excuse to voluntarily hand Republicans yet another victory. There is really NO reason for the administration to back down on the Bush tax cuts. And Axelrod’s nonsense about doing it because “I don’t want to trade away security for the middle class” is nothing but unadulterated RUBBISH!

For Axelrod to suggest that they’ll fight hard against Republican attempts to repeal the healthcare legislation, while remaining silent on the deficit reduction commission proposal and signaling a compromise on the tax cuts is clear evidence of where the administrations loyalties lie.

The sad truth is that the healthcare bill mostly benefitted the poor, and that’s okay, because we need to work together as a nation to lift up everyone. But between the commission’s debt-reduction proposals — which attack all Americans who rely on wages to subsist — and this kowtow on the Bush tax cuts, it’s clear that the intention is to finance everything on the backs of the middle class.

Of course, recognizing the backlash of his statements, Axelrod was quick to back peddle and attempt a whitewash by claiming that he was merely reiterating the previously stated position of the administration. This may be true, but the report did cause a stir, and should have left no doubt that the President’s base is not in favor of compromise.

In the end, whatever Axelrod said is immaterial. What really matters is what President Obama does next. He has a mandate from — not only dedicated Democrats — but also a huge number of Independents and even a fair number of Republicans. Polls show that a majority of Americans are in favor of allowing the cuts for the very top income levels to expire. Only fools outside the rich are willing to pay for the increased opulence of the most wealthy. Obama has the support from the public.

And thanks to the Republicans, people are deficit conscious right now. The Republicans put the deficit into the public spotlight to use against Democrats. They worked their way through the election hammering that Democrats are fiscally irresponsible. But they did their bit and used the deficit for political gain and now want to immediately turn around and ignore it.

Democrats cannot now respond by allowing the Republicans to push the deficit into the background. They cannot allow the Republicans to spin a $700 billion increase to the deficit as anything but fiscal irresponsibility of the highest order. They need to make it perfectly clear to the American people that all economic benefit for the past 30 years has gone to the top 2% while compensation for the rest of the population has stagnated. They need to stand up for the middle class and demand that the rich stop taking at everyone else’s expense. And they need to take the strongest position against increasing the deficit simply to fill the coffers of the very rich.

They call this sort of issue a no-brainer. It doesn’t get anymore no-brainer than this. Democrats, even those in the upper middle class who would pay the most, would rather fight and wind up paying higher taxes than to just concede and let the rich squeeze the country again.

This is a seminal issue for the second half of President Obama’s term and for Democrats in general. If they cave, it’s a sure sign that they’re either complicit in the rape of the middle class, they’re just completely gutless (which equates to useless) — or they’re freaking incompetent. There really are no other options.

Which one is it?

You can help by raising your voice: just sign this petition and tell the President that you want him to fight against tax cuts for millionaires.

The Obama administration has decided to begin publicly walking away from what it once touted as key deadlines in the war in Afghanistan in an effort to de-emphasize President Barack Obama’s pledge that he’d begin withdrawing U.S. forces in July 2011, administration and military officials have told McClatchy

Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers

Who knows if there’s any truth in this story. Many of us, on both the left and right, are waiting to hear such news, so this fits our expectation. But the Whitehouse denies the rumors, and there’s really no compelling reason to embrace the speculation.

Personally, I have little doubt that the withdrawal will eventually be delayed. The forces behind continuing the war are simply too powerful. But for now I’ll keep hoping that the schedule stays relatively intact. Most Americans want the war to end, and President Obama needs to keep that in mind. He can ill afford to stretch it out and slap the face of the people who elected him.

The fact is that this war is unwinnable. We’ll not be in a measurably better situation for withdrawal in 8 more months, or in 8 more years. We’re not going to establish a healthy democracy in Afghanistan. Hell, we can’t even achieve that here at home. There’s simply no excuse for staying. America is crumbling, and while we “can’t afford” to invest in our people and infrastructure, we willingly fritter away $190 million every day on a useless war.

This is just another face of the American Wealthfare State. Afghanistan is a goldmine where government dollars are fed to fat-cat defense contractors whose minions outnumber military personnel on the ground. They exploit low-wage foreign laborers, Third Country Nationals (TCN) as they’re called, for massive profits on contracts that are awarded without bids. Guaranteed profits and no competition — there’s nothing like a nice cost-plus government contract where you’re free to run up the costs and in turn increase the profits?

Whether it’s Goldman Sachs, WellPoint or Halliburton, our federal government can always afford more money for the rich. That all-important deficit seems only to matter when it comes to helping the American people.

Everybody you talk to has an opinion about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, better known as the Stimulus. Enacted in February of 2009, the program was intended to shore up short term consumer spending, provide aid to states and invest in projects to create jobs. With a total price tag originally estimated to be $787 billion, the Stimulus was originally supported by 51% of Americans, but a year and a half later, only 29% believed that it had actually helped the economy.

A Rasmussen Reports poll taken in July showed that not only did so few Americans believe the Stimulus had helped, but that 43% believed that it hurt the economy. That same poll revealed that 69% of those surveyed believed tax cuts were a better way to create jobs than more government spending. Without doubt, these attitudes are reason for concern, but they fall far short of telling the whole story.

Things actually get much more confusing when the results of a Gallup poll taken in June are also considered. The survey asked people if they would be in favor of Congress passing legislation to “Approve additional government spending to create jobs and stimulate the economy,” and 60% of those polled answered in the affirmative with only 38% in opposition.

So, 60% of Americans support more stimulus spending, but 43% believe that what was spent through July had actually hurt the economy, and 69% believe tax cuts would create more jobs. What can explain this incongruence?

The answer is likely found in the American proclivity to swallow political talking points without any verification of facts. A revealing example of this dynamic concerns the Obama tax cuts offered through the Stimulus. A CBS News/New York Times poll conducted in February of this year showed that 24% of respondents believed that Obama had increased taxes, while only 13% believed they had been reduced. Amongst Tea Partiers, only 2% believed taxes had decreased under Obama, and a whopping 44% believed they had increased. The opinions evinced in these polls have nothing to do with the reality that the Stimulus included 25 different tax cuts that benefitted 95% of all Americans.

Sadly, voter opinion seems to track much more closely to political rhetoric than anything substantive or factual. Republicans have consistently spread the message that Obama will raise people’s taxes, therefore people believe that he has. They’ve also espoused the position that tax cuts best stimulate the economy, and although the vast majority of economists believe tax cuts to be the worst form of economic stimulus, a majority of Americans adhere to the conservative falsehood.

This dynamic seems also to be at the root of public opinion regarding the Stimulus. Arguably the Obama administration’s most successful program to date, it has been credited by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) with adding as much as 4.5% to the GDP and increasing the number of people employed by between 1.4 and 3.3 million. According to Mark Zandi, former economic advisor to John McCain, unemployment would be 11.5% instead of 9.5% without the Stimulus. But still 43% of Americans believe the Stimulus has hurt the economy.

The stimulus has paid out 77% of the $288 billion in tax relief, but only 64% of the $224 billion in entitlement funds, with direct investment funds trailing still further. Thus far, barely 54% of the $275 billion slated for contracts and grants has been paid, mostly because of the long lead times resulting from a shortage of “shovel-ready” projects. But as the projects ramp up, the real promise for future jobs, new industries, lower healthcare costs, more efficient government and improved energy independence will all begin to materialize.

More than $23 billion in contracts, grants and loans has come to California, funding over 18,000 awards. One major project right here in Contra Costa County is the fourth bore on the Caldecott Tunnel. Nearly $200 million was allocated to Caltrans for the project that would not have proceeded without the ARRA. In addition, direct local funding within Contra Costa County has funded 46 contracts and 252 grants totaling nearly $300 million. Investments include $43 million for transportation, $22 million for public safety, $14 million for energy, $126 million for education and more funding to assist with health and human services, housing, labor, technology and water/environment. Together, these projects have created nearly 500 new jobs, saved many times that amount and promise to create more as projects move forward.

Unfortunately, the Stimulus success stories are not what most people are fed through the media. Unless an individual happens to be working on a Stimulus funded project, their opinion is likely shaped by the spurious claims levied by its political opponents. People like House Minority Leader, John Boehner and half-term Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin have made it a practice to disparage the Stimulus without any facts to back their claims.  Republican Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) even went so far as to create a list of “wasteful” Stimulus projects that was more a waste of time to create or read than anything else.

The Stimulus could have been more effective. There’s little doubt that money could have been better directed to achieve maximum job creation, but to say that the entire program “has gotten us nowhere,” as John Boehner stated recently, is nothing short of a bald-faced lie. The Republican obstructionists have succeeded in using deception and distortion to convince American citizens that stimulus spending is ineffective and that tax cuts are a preferred option. Both economic theory and American history say otherwise.

The Stimulus has raised the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs by as many as 4.8 million. It is also creating new export industries, moving our nation forward with alternative energy and laying the foundation for lower healthcare costs and more efficient government. The most significant issue with the Stimulus is that it was too small, and the national conversation should now be focused on a second wave. But instead we toil with Republican subterfuge and self-serving delay.

Wake up America! Those who criticize the Stimulus, raise concerns about the deficit and at the same time fight for tax cuts for the super-rich, don’t give a care about your wellbeing. Open your eyes and see them for what they are — Republicans.