The debt talks meltdown
by John Aravosis (DC) on 7/22/2011 07:35:00 PM
1. Obama is being played. Boehner knows that the President is incapable of walking away from a deal, any deal. It was inevitable that Boehner would play the President at the last minute, hoping the President will give in like he always does when confronted by anyone. That's what's happening now.
2. Boehner is trying to look "strong" for the Teabagger wing of his own party.
3. The President did a decent job in his press conference of faulting the Republicans for the breakdown in talks.
4. The President also did his usual job of blaming the Democratic base for all of his woes, and worse, equating Social Security and Medicare advocates with Teabaggers. Be sure to remember the President's latest personal attack on his base when "Obama for America" calls asking for money.
5. In contrast to the ease with which the President slammed his base today, he just couldn't bring himself to blame the Republicans for the deficit and the national debt. He continually talks about both sides being to blame. He's wrong. Look at this chart, based on CBO data, detailing where the deficit and the national debt came from - via the NYT :
Click image to see larger version
6. Look at how far the President caved so far.
- Agreed to make the debt ceiling about deficit reduction.
- Agreed to put Social Security and Medicare on the table.
- Agreed to cut more from programs than would be raised from taxes.
- Agreed to cut more than even the Gang of Six wanted.
- And we hear that the latest deals being discussed would have been exclusively spending cuts, with no tax increases at all.
7. What have the Republicans caved on so far? Nothing. A few members of Congress have agreed to some "revenue enhancements," but not the leadership.
8. Even Nancy Pelosi caved today, agreeing to spending cuts without new taxes. She argued that she was at least able to save entitlements. That's a bit like handing the bully half of your lunch money and claiming victory because he didn't get the rest of it.
When it comes down to it, this is a negotiation between a hardline Republican and a man who desperately doesn't want to be seen as a Democrat. With that in mind, it's no wonder that the deal - like pretty much every deal of late - keeps veering more and more to the right. The President and his advisers seem convinced that Independents are 51% of the electorate. Good luck with that.