Top Priority of Republican House: Add $700 Billion to the Federal Deficit

If you buy the bromide that Reagan was the great communicator, you will find it even easier to see Obama as the great equivocator.  Last year during the health care fiasco, I watched Obama repeatedly fumble-fork explanations for why we need a public option.  Now he is doing the same thing with his marshmallow response to the question of continuing the Bush tax cuts for millionaires.  From the 60 Minutes interview:

KROFT: . . . Are you ready to compromise on the Bush tax breaks?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I think we're gonna have to have a serious conversation about it. Here's an example where I'd like to think we could at least settle on those things we agree on. I think both Democrats and Republicans agree that for people making $250,000 a year or less, the last thing we want right now is to see their taxes go up. Not only would it be bad for them, but it'd be bad for the economy as a whole. Because those are the folks who are most likely to spend. And a lot of them are having trouble paying the bills. So, we don't want to make it harder on them. We want to make it easier on them to be able to participate effectively in the economy. For folks who are making more than $250,000 a year, you and me, Steve you know, the question is, can we afford to borrow $700 billion.

KROFT: That's what it is?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: That's how much it would cost over the course of ten years. To give us an extra tax break. Or does it make sense to say to us, "You know what? After the first $250,000, your tax rates are gonna go back to what they were under Bill Clinton." When, by the way, rich people were doing pretty well.

Sometimes I think this debate gets framed as if I think rich people, folks who are doing well, should be punished.. . .

Can anyone that smart really be that lame?  Or does the President believe in this issue just as much as he did the public option?