compromise | The Obama Diary

Posts Tagged ‘compromise

Oct

ah yes, the liberal media….

Categories: All Videos and Articles
Tags: act, american, Barack, benen, compromise, conference, economy, jobs, McConnell, media, Mitch, news, Obama, opposition, President, press, republicans, steve, video

Steve Benen: The very first question in this morning’s White House press conference was pretty discouraging:

“On your jobs bill, the American people are sick of games - and you mentioned games in your comments. They want results. Wouldn’t it be more productive to work with Republicans on a plan that you know could pass Congress as opposed to going around the country talking about your bill and singling out - calling out Republicans by name?”

Towards the end of the event, another reporter asked the nearly identical question…. these questions make it seem as if it’s incumbent upon President Obama to change strategies - stop taking a compelling message to the public, stop trying to create conditions that would pressure Congress to do the right thing, and start asking Republicans if they might please consider working with him on some half-measures that probably wouldn’t do much good, at their convenience, if they don’t mind.

Have we not already been through this? The president has pleaded with congressional Republicans to work with him on good faith …. It’s proven to be pointless …. As he said this morning, “I’m also dealing with a Republican Majority Leader who said that his number-one goal was to beat me - not put Americans back to work, not grow the economy, not help small businesses expand, but to defeat me….”

…… And some White House political reporters want to know why Obama isn’t trying to negotiate with those bent on destroying his presidency? Seriously?

Full post here

Aug

‘don’t call it a compromise’

By Chipsticks 132 Comments

Categories: All Photos and Articles
Tags: Barack, compromise, deal, debt, limit, Obama, party, President, republicans, tea, teabaggers

Steve Benen: ….. I’ve seen several reports on the debt-ceiling framework describe it as a “compromise” between Republicans and Democrats. That’s far too generous a term. Is this a deal? Sure. Is it an agreement? Absolutely. Can it fairly be characterized as a “compromise”? Not at all.

Republicans threatened to crash the economy, on purpose, unless a series of radical demands were met. Democrats made an effort to lessen those demands and make them less painful than intended. The result, not surprisingly, is rather ugly, which is to be expected.

The debt-reduction framework isn’t a compromise; it’s a ransom. If one were to draw up two lists - one with all the concessions Democrats made, the other with the concessions the GOP made - the one-sided image would be striking. Of course, that’s what happens when one party has a gun to the head of its hostage - in this case, the nation and its economy - and the other party wants to prevent their rivals from pulling the trigger.

…. what’s the less-bad news? There are a few noteworthy angles: (1) if the trigger kicks in, Medicaid and Social Security would be walled off and protected…. (2) triggered cuts for the 2012 fiscal year are practically non-existent, so it won’t hurt the economy in the short term; (3) a surprising amount of the overall deal targets the bloated Pentagon budget, which makes more painful domestic cuts less necessary; (4) there won’t be another debt-ceiling fight until 2013, giving the GOP one fewer hostages to grab for a while. And (5) if the deal passes, there will be no calamity this week, and everyone lives to fight another day.

….. there’s nothing in this deal to promote economic growth and nothing to create jobs … That Republicans wanted to take a huge step backwards, and Democrats negotiated to make it a more modest step backwards is cold comfort.

The Senate is likely to vote on the deal as early as this afternoon, and passage appears likely. The House vote may come tonight, and the outcome in the lower chamber is very much in doubt.

Full post here

Jul

‘compromise’

By Chipsticks 38 Comments

Categories: All Videos and Articles
Tags: balloon, Barack, ceiling, compromise, debt, Dennis, firebaggers, g, juice, kennedy, limit, Obama, President, teabaggers, ted

This brilliant Balloon Juice post calls to mind this March 2011 video again

Dennis G (Balloon Juice): Compromise. That word in the title is a dirty word to many. It seems to put teabaggers and firebaggers in a suicidal rage and can make partisans of all stripes a wee bit queasy. And yet, compromise is at the heart of our system of government. All progressive progress since 1776 has come through a series of hard and often bitter compromises. To reject the very idea of compromise is to reject the idea that Government by the people, of the people and for the people is a good thing. Because there are a lot of us with many different views and ideas of how to move forward. Some of these ideas are good. Some bad. Quite a few are horrible. Some only improve when tested against other ideas. The best ideas are tested by compromise and improve over the years.

Of course everything I just wrote is heresy if you view compromise as an evil in and of itself.

This is especially true if you’ve narrowed your political world view to the lens of a favorite single issue (or two) and force all of your thinking and reactions through the force rigidity that their talking points demand. If that is how you view the world then the notion of compromise is simply vile. Now, some would argue that this view of compromise as the great evil is evenly distributed between the left and the right or between Democrats and Republicans. That is, of course, pure bullshit. Yes, the Left/Democrats have their Firebaggers, but these folks are a tiny grifter minority whose main function seems to be to lighten the wallets of the gullible. Most Democrats view compromise the way Teddy Kennedy viewed it - as the best way (and the only way) to get things done….

Full post here

Thank you gobrooklyn

Jul

‘opposition to a deal with obama creates problems for gop’

By Chipsticks 30 Comments

Categories: Articles
Tags: Americans, Barack, Boehner, ceiling, compromise, debt, gop, john, la, limit, No, Obama, of, party, polls, President, public, republicans, tax, tea, times

LA Times: As the debt ceiling debate enters its final stages, House Republicans face increasing political isolation in their opposition to sweeping budget reforms that President Obama has pushed for and polls show most Americans now prefer.

Republican resistance to compromise has turned a significant bloc of voters against them, according to several new polls, and has frustrated members of their own leadership as well as establishment GOP figures.

… House Republicans remain the key obstacle to passing a debt ceiling increase and avoiding a possible federal default after Aug. 2. Their strict adherence to a no-new-taxes pledge all but rules out consideration of a larger agreement on deficits and the debt ceiling. Their position is reinforced by the fear that “tea party” groups will mount primary challenges against many Republicans who vote for anything that could be characterized as a tax increase.

… Boehner, at the center of negotiations with the White House over a sweeping deficit-reduction deal, has had to spend much of the last several days trying to get his members to lower their expectations and ease their hostility to a compromise.

Full article here

Thanks Tally

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