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I'm a big fan of New York Times columnist David Brooks. Besides being a gifted writer, he's a moderate, sensible, small c conservative who supported Barack Obama (though lately he's soured a bit on The One).

 In his most recent column he called on Republicans to work constructively to help shape and modify the Obama economic program.

 This as opposed to calling for tax cuts and simply saying no to everything else.

 "If the free market party doesn't offer the public an honest appraisal of capitalism's weaknesses," writes Brooks, "the public will never trust it to address them. Power will inevitably slide over to those who believe this crisis is a repudiation of global capitalism as a whole."

 Brooks needn't have worried. On page A14 of Tuesday's Times, in a sidebar examining the role of Democratic House Ways and Means committee chairman Charles Rangel it was reported that: "Mr. Rangel's second term as chairman of the … Committee is his first with a Democratic president.

 But while Mr. Rangel, a 20-term liberal from Harlem, is eager to help Mr. Obama, one of his first acts - questioning the president's proposal to limit deductions by rich taxpayers to help pay for overhauling health care - underscores that Mr. Rangel's priority is New York.

 The state's lawmakers typically oppose limiting a break that allows affluent New Yorkers to deduct their high state and local taxes, as well as charitable donations, from their federal taxes."

 In other words Obama - scourge of global capitalism - can't even count on a 20-term "Liberal" congressman to support his efforts at amending the tax act so as to stop - in Obama's words -  "transferring wealth to the wealthy."

With Democrats like that who needs Republicans?

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