Did Democrats make the right decision to deal with tax cuts after the election?

Frank Askin, professor of law at Rutgers University, said:
T he Democrats made a huge mistake in putting off the debate on tax cuts. They should have held the Republicans' feet to the fire and make them filibuster — if they dared.

Dean Baker, co-director, Center for Economy and Policy Research, said:
It depends if they were more in need of campaign contributions or votes. Raising taxes on rich people will kill them in campaign contributions category, but it is a big winner in the votes category.

Peter Navarro, professor of economics and public policy at UC Irvine, said:
It’s certainly the wrong decision for the economy. Politically, retaining all of the Bush tax cuts would have gained more for the Dems than inaction by reaching out to independents and moderate Reps. So … typically head in the sand stuff.

Justin Raimondo, editorial director of Antiwar.com, said:
This move merely shows their weakness, both electoral and ideological: their tactics are stealth tactics, but no one is really fooled. The Democrats are indeed the party of tax and spend: this is what their constituency -- the unions and the government employees -- demand, and they have to deliver, or else face the electoral consequences. Since they agree with the Republicans that we must maintain and even expand our overseas empire, with wars in Iraq (still ongoing no matter what the Prez says) and Afghanistan, this means is that they must continually raise taxes -- no cuts in "entitlements" allowed, including military entitlements.