They as much as anyone have made this possible and they've always encouraged Obama not to make any of the kinds of concessions he made in 2011-though as I've argued in the past, in 2011 he may have had to make them as the poll numbers were much more on the GOP's side then. At that time they had something of a mandate-though ultimately they shot themselves in the foot by construing it much too broadly.
"There’s no one dancing in the West Wing end zone.That’s partly because the ball isn’t there yet — the shutdown isn’t over and the debt ceiling hasn’t been raised. It’s also partly because the White House knows a premature celebration could cause a backlash among Republicans whose votes will be needed and partly because the public suffered when large portions of the government closed."
"But that doesn’t mean administration officials aren’t looking ahead. If a budget deal can be struck in the coming days, White House officials will surely portray it as a victory of common sense over creed, a necessary step forward for the American people so that federal operations can continue and the economy can avoid the catastrophe of a default. President Barack Obama will disavow any interest in the score-keeping of Washington’s winners and losers."
"A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll released Thursday night — and no doubt reflecting what both White House and Republican pollsters already knew — showed the public approval rating for Republicans at 24 percent, an all-time low in the history of the survey. Seventy percent of respondents said the congressional GOP was putting politics before the good of the country, and, worst for the GOP, the numbers for Obamacare have actually risen during the shutdown."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/white-house-premature-celebration-government-shutdown-debt-ceilign-98167.html#ixzz2hUtUdEjL
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/government-shutdown-2013-update-98177.html#ixzz2hV4VHNBk
"There’s no one dancing in the West Wing end zone.That’s partly because the ball isn’t there yet — the shutdown isn’t over and the debt ceiling hasn’t been raised. It’s also partly because the White House knows a premature celebration could cause a backlash among Republicans whose votes will be needed and partly because the public suffered when large portions of the government closed."
"But that doesn’t mean administration officials aren’t looking ahead. If a budget deal can be struck in the coming days, White House officials will surely portray it as a victory of common sense over creed, a necessary step forward for the American people so that federal operations can continue and the economy can avoid the catastrophe of a default. President Barack Obama will disavow any interest in the score-keeping of Washington’s winners and losers."
"But Obama and fellow Democrats, particularly Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who urged him over the summer to adopt a hard line and keep deal-making Vice President Joe Biden out of the mix, know that their unwillingness to give an inch dragged some of their most ardent Republican adversaries to the position of just wanting to end the pain. They also know that the GOP suffered even greater self-inflicted damage by letting the government shut down before coming to the conclusion that the public agreed with the president’s position."
"A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll released Thursday night — and no doubt reflecting what both White House and Republican pollsters already knew — showed the public approval rating for Republicans at 24 percent, an all-time low in the history of the survey. Seventy percent of respondents said the congressional GOP was putting politics before the good of the country, and, worst for the GOP, the numbers for Obamacare have actually risen during the shutdown."
"Thirty-eight percent of Americans now see the Affordable Care Act as a good idea, up from 31 percent last month, according to the poll. And while 43 percent see it as a bad idea — about the same as last month — 50 percent now say they oppose defunding the law."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/white-house-premature-celebration-government-shutdown-debt-ceilign-98167.html#ixzz2hUtUdEjL
The GOP has been slow to get it, but it finally started dawning on them that Obama and the Dems really aren't going to negotiate over the debt ceiling and funding the government shutdown.
"Congressional Republicans rushed late Friday to develop a new plan for reopening the government and avoiding a first-ever default in hopes of crafting a strategy that can win the support of the White House before financial markets open Monday."
"Talks on Capitol Hill advanced with a new urgency after President Obama rejected House Speaker John A. Boehner’s (R) offer to raise the debt limit through late November to give the parties time to negotiate a broader budget deal."
"Briefing reporters after financial markets closed for the week, White House press secretary Jay Carney praised a “new willingness” among Republicans to end thegovernment shutdown — now in its 12th day — and to acknowledge that default on the national debt “would be catastrophically damaging.”
"But with the Treasury Department due to exhaust its borrowing authority in just six days, Carney said the president would not agree to go through another round of economy-rattling talks in six weeks, just before the Christmas shopping season."
“It at least looks as if there’s a possibility of making some progress here,” Carney said. But, “we have to remove these demands for leverage essentially using the American people and the American economy.”
"Before Carney spoke, Obama telephoned Boehner and the two men agreed to keep talking, aides said. Afterward, GOP senators marched into Boehner’s office and counseled him to adopt an approach they had presented to Obama earlier in the day, during their own meeting at the White House."
Obama is willing to listen to the dueling offers of Senate and House Republicans. The two Republican groups are hardly communicating-Senate Republicans actually asked Obama what the House plan at their meeting with him. Senate Republicans are not much more interested in a plan that only goes through to Christmas either-I mean wouldn't it be nice if we actually had a functioning government that has some level of certainty?
“The question is can you get something in the next 72 hours? And the president seems committed to be engaged in it,” said Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.). “The president has always said he’d like not to revisit this before Thanksgiving.”
"Sen. John McCain said there was little mention of the House proposal in the meeting with Obama. The Arizona Republican said the president “sees progress” in the Senate."
“He referred to it. He doesn’t quite understand [the House] proposal. Nor do I,” McCain said. “The president is very reluctant to commit to anything because he has to deal with the House of Representatives. But I am encouraged by the attitude that’s been displayed.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/government-shutdown-2013-update-98177.html#ixzz2hV4VHNBk
Much as it sounds wrong to say it, if we could just abolish the House of Representatives, at this point we'd have a much more democratic government.
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