The battle lines have been drawn, Barack Obama is supporting an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts. Liberals and independents (like me) disenchanted with President Obama, are pissed with his inability or unwillingnessto back up his campaign promises. You remember, the Obama who vowed as a candidate to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for incomes below $250,000 for a couple or $200,000 for an individual - but let the cuts, which lapse at the end of the year, expire for incomes above those thresholds. Well, former staffers of the Obama campaign, are just as pissed off.

Here is what some of Obama 2008 Campaign staffers are saying about President Obama:

Jeana Brown, Obama 2008 Field Organizer in Georgia: 

I personally am saddened. It is clear to me that we have not seen the "change we can believe in." Extending the Bush tax cuts will kill volunteer recruitment and retainment. [Email for confirmation: jeana@teamrural.com]

Daniel Roche, Obama 2008 Deputy Field Organizer in Nevada -- a key swing state Obama won:

If he capitulates on this, there really is no point in voting for him in 2012. The difference between voting for a Republican and voting for someone whose default negotiation strategy is rolling over and dying whenever the Republican Party says mean things is marginal. This should be a ridiculously easy fight to win.  [Email for confirmation: lutheranphilosopher@gmail.com]

Matthew Donoghue, Communications Staffer for 2008 Ohio Campaign for Change (Coordinated Campaign - Dem Party and Obama)

I want the President to adhere to his campaign promise. I didn't go to Ohio eleven weeks after completing chemoradiotherapy to have him uphold the reckless Bush/GOP "spare the wealthy" tax scheme. [Email for confirmation: Matthew_P._Donoghue@att.net]

CBS poll under-reported fun fact:

CBS poll: 84% of Democrats, 64% of Independents, and 52% of Republican voters say we should only renew tax cuts for those making below $250,000 -- or let them expire altogether. That's called bipartisanship, and Obama's on the wrong side of it.

AAP says: Adam Green is right when he said:

 "When majorities of Democratic, Independent, and Republican voters all say we should only renew tax cuts for those making below $250,000 -- or let them expire altogether -- there is zero excuse for compromising instead of fighting on this issue. Like the public option, which enjoyed similar bipartisan consensus among voters, progressives are pushing President Obama to fight for both a policy winner and a political winner. President Obama should be in Maine and Massachusetts right now, states he won by high double digits, rallying the constituents of Senators Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and Scott Brown. But President Obama has shown a complete refusal to fight Republicans throughout his presidency even when the public is on his side -- and millions of his former supporters are now growing disappointed and infuriated by this refusal to fight. Obama is demobilizing the troops and demoralizing the public right before he seeks re-election."

-- Adam Green, co-founder, Progressive Change Campaign Committee

 AAP says:  It's disappointing how Barack Obama is willing to give in to the GOP on the tax cut issue - despite Democrats' large majorities in both houses of Congress (at least for a few more weeks). I agree with Frank Rich over at tThe New York Times who explained "the baffling Obama presidency" in part by arguing that Mr. Obama "has seemingly surrendered his once-considerable abilities to act, decide or think." The president's attempts to seek out compromise instead of holding fast to a position, he wrote, has rendered him "indistinct" and "weightless." I'm sure Adam Green, co-founder, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and former Obama campaign staffers would agree.

I will say this, I agree with Daniel Roche, Obama 2008 Deputy Field Organizer in Nevada -- a key swing state Obama won when he said, "If he capitulates on this, there really is no point in voting for him in 2012.

 Cross Posted on MyDD.com, African American Pundit 

 and BlogTalkRadio Blog