Obama Blasts Republicans: Protecting the Rich is What ‘Binds Their Party Together.’

To See President Biden's 5 Best Jokes At The White House Correspondents Dinner visit The Daily.

On Al Sharpton’s radio show today, President Obama blasted Republicans by saying, “They would prefer to see these kinds of cuts that could slow down our recovery over closing tax loopholes, and that’s the thing that binds their party together at this point.”

Here is the audio:

Al Sharpton asked the president why Republicans would even chance the sequester.

Obama answered,

“Well, my sense is that their basic view is that nothing is important enough to raise taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations, and they would prefer to see these kinds of cuts that could slow down our recovery over closing tax loopholes, and that’s the thing that binds their party together at this point.

This is a major argument we’ve been having obviously for the last three years. I’ll tell you, Al, when you look at polling seventy five percent of the American people agree with me that the way to reduce our deficit sensibly is through a combination of spending cuts and tax revenue, and if we spread that out over several years, it wouldn’t have a bad impact on our economy, and in fact strengthen our economy, by putting us on a more stable financial footing.

Unfortunately, I think Republicans right now, have been so dug in on this notion, that it becomes difficult for them to see an obvious answer right in front of them.”

President Obama undersold the support his approach to dealing with the deficit. According to new USA Today/Pew poll, 76% of Americans support his balanced approach to the deficit. Republicans have once again decided that protecting the rich is more important than doing what’s right for the American people. If this argument from Obama sounded familiar to you, that’s because it was. The president used the exact same argument on raising taxes on the wealthy, the debt ceiling, and the fiscal cliff.

Republicans keep playing the same losing hand over and over again, and they don’t care. Republicans are so busy placing their ideologically driven desire to protect the wealthy over doing what’s right for the country that don’t seem to notice that they are destroying themselves with each defeat.

The Republican Party is at war with itself, and the only thing holding them together is their shared desire to protect the wealthy at all costs. If Republicans split on raising taxes on the wealthy, they risk the whole party falling apart.

The president has learned how to use the divides in the Republican Party to his advantage, and he is on his way to another political victory on the sequester.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association