I get why the President spent his first term trying to negotiate with the GOP terrorists. I don’t get why he is doing it now. This post is a direct pickup from dkos.
If President Barack Obama has a flaw, it’s his obviously overwhelming desire to appear reasonable and conciliatory and “work together” to find “compromise” and “get things done”. Bipartisanly. With a sane, reasonable, conciliatory opposition, that approach would make sense. But after four years of getting slammed by Republicans eager to destroy his presidency, Obama still hasn’t learned the lesson. He still thinks he’s going to get rewarded for being the “adult in the room”. Yeah, everything I’ve put inside scare quotes is a joke. A bad, painful joke.
So there’s nothing better than headlines like this one, in the Washington Post, to deliver the lesson to the White House to, well, just quit being the Capitulator In Chief:
A rough 24 hours for the White House
You see, Obama had drawn a line in the sand, and then — to no one’s surprise — ended up capitulating on everything he said he’d never capitulate on.
A few weeks ago, the Obama administration was firm that they wouldn’t budge on tax rates for income above $250,000 and that they wouldn’t budge on the debt ceiling. They’ve since budged on both.
And while Republicans are stupid, even they aren’t that stupid.
Republicans increasingly think the White House will concede more now, and that if they don’t concede more now they’ll definitely give Republicans a better deal if threatened with debt default.
Capitulation is never a strength. A deal will obviously require concessions by the president, but you make those to FINISH the deal, not in the middle of negotiations, and not until after you’ve branded the opposition with the concessions they’re demanding. If a final deal required concessions on chained CPI, then make sure it’s the Republicans making those demands, and then make sure everyone knows it’s the Republicans making those demands. Don’t be the one making that offer, for chrissakes!
[White House allies] are disappointed to see an old dynamic reasserting itself: The president makes concessions, thinking he’s close to a deal, and then the Republicans pocket those concessions, offering nothing but renewed threats to blow up the talks in return.
Yup, this is insanity. Not only is it brain dead stupid with regards to Republicans, but also betrays his own vice president and congressional caucus — which had promised several times that Social Security (among other things) was off the table.
Worse, the pushback from congressional Democrats over chained CPI is stronger than the administration expected — note the outspoken opposition from Sen. Dick Durbin, an Obama ally who’s often considered a barometer for pragmatic liberals.