The tentative deal on taxes and Obama's defense of it deserves additional analysis. Jon Chait has some over at his blog. I hope to provide some more here, as well.
For now, I thought I'd point readers to a statement from Bob Greenstein, of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. There is nobody I trust more on these matters than him:
The deal between President Obama and Republican leaders on tax cuts and unemployment insurance has two substantial positive aspects: its surprisingly strong protections for low- and middle-income working families and its stronger-than-expected boost for the economy and jobs. But it also has one deeply disturbing negative feature: not only the extension of the high-end income-tax cuts, but also an egregious estate-tax giveaway that Senator Jon Kyl demanded for the estates of the wealthiest one-quarter of 1 percent of Americans who die.
Congress should approve this package — its rejection will likely lead to a more problematic package that does less for middle- and low-income workers and less for the economy. Then, in 2012, when the economy should be stronger, the President should make clear he will veto any legislation to extend either the high-end tax cuts or the weakening of the estate tax beyond the estate-tax parameters that were in place in 2009, and he should take that case to the country.
The full statement is worth reading if you're interested in the policy details.