On “Special Report” last night, Charles Krauthammer explained why Republicans are right to reject Tim Geithner’s “fiscal cliff” offer (via NRO’s Eliana Johnson):
“This is almost unheard of. I mean, what do they expect? They obviously expect the Republicans will cave on everything. I think the Republicans ought to simply walk away. The president is the president, he’s the leader. They are demanding that Republicans explain all the cuts that they want to make. We had that movie a year and a half ago, where Paul Ryan presented the budget, a serious, real budget with real cuts. Obama was supposed to give a speech at which he would respond with a counter-offer. And what did he do? He gave a speech where he had Ryan sitting in the front row. He called the Ryan proposal un-American, insulted him, offered nothing, and ran on Mediscare in the next 18 months. And they expect Republicans are going to do this again?
Republicans are going to walk on this. And I think they have leverage. Yes, for congressional Democrats, it will help them in the future if Republicans absorb the blame, because we’re going to have a recession. But Obama’s not running again, unlike congressional Democrats. He’s going to have a recession, 9 percent unemployment, 2 million more unemployed, and a second-term that’s going to be a ruin. That is not a good proposition.”
The administration’s “offer” — $1.6 trillion in tax increases (twice as much as the GOP suggested it would accept) and another stimulus deal and Congress gives up its power to control the debt ceiling — is insulting. Either the administration wrongly thinks starting with a laughable offer is going to end in a fantastic final deal for them, or it doesn’t want to reach a deal at all.
If the former is true, then Obama really is clueless about how to negotiate. Presenting a ridiculous first offer — especially after Republicans indicated they were willing to compromise on tax revenues — is not the way to kick off the process. It is the way to insult the recipient, create an adversarial environment, advertise your lack of seriousness, and potentially shut down any hope of reaching a deal acceptable to both sides.
And that may be the point. Krauthammer is right that Obama is going to be faced with the fallout of going over the fiscal cliff during his last term. But maybe Obama doesn’t really care about the fallout. If his goal is to crush congressional Republicans and help Democrats win back the House in 2014 — which would allow him to push through more of his legislative agenda — then going off the cliff may be exactly what he wants to do.
Is anyone surprised?! This is how BHO handles everything. And he truly does not care. This guy jumps the shark over and over again. I'm disgusted by his behavior.
This is how bargaining begins, as anyone who has bought a car knows well. The Dems propose what they want, the GOP counters with what they wan't (namely selling the USA to a consortium of hedge fund managers, oil company execs, and weapons manufacturers) and they go from there.
Obama and the Democrats are drunk with success right now. They are convinced that the country has endorsed their ideological extremism, and they are incapable (if they ever were capable) of real compromise or even honest negotiation. But their arrogance is also their greatest vulnerability, and they can be relied upon to eventually overplay their hand. n nRepublicans in the meantime must shift the debate from "tax breaks for the wealthy" to fiscal solvency, and a way to do it is to do something that has been suggested on various internet sites in recent days: Embrace Simpson-Bowles. The very fact that many Republicans — Paul Ryan prominent among them — initially opposed the plan as not going far enough would prove Republican willingness to compromise. While it's far from ideal, it's far more than the Republicans can hope to negotiate in their present reduced circumstances. It will also put Democrats like Dick Durbin who originally supported the plan firmly on the spot.
"O" specializes in sticking his finger in the "eye" of America every day. Its the Chicago way, "in their face" remember that quote. nWalk away from the talks, R's will get blamed for everything anyway, especially with the MSMedia looking out for and protecting Libs as they do everyday. nLet "O" make all the decisions so he will get all the blame, don't forget all the new taxes and rules in ObamCare will start soon and once America finds out THEIR pocket is being picked again they will pay better attention. nBut then again "O" does have his army of moochers who will protect their FREE STUFF to keep the goodies a chugging along.
This is the way that the mafia negotiates.