Krugman crystallizes the GOP position quite well. We've heard them complain that Democrats aren't negotiating are saying 'my way or the highway' which is rich. It's the GOP who sings that tune. The position of Obama and the Dems is that there shouldn't be any negotiations over the debt ceiling or funding the government.
Boehner was complaining last week that in a negotiation 'neither side gets everything it wants.' Again, this is rich. It's the GOP that thinks a negotiation is where they get everything they want and the Dems get nothing. They're still doing this now. After all, if the Dems give them entitlement cuts or changes to Obamacare what do they get in return? Simply having the debt ceiling raised and the government not shutdown? So these are Democrat desires but the GOP doesn't particularly want these things?
"Aha. Paul Ryan, the Serious, Honest Conservative (the media myth) — as opposed to Paul Ryan the unserious, dishonest partisan (always the reality) — made a brief reappearance over the past couple of days. Needless to say, his initiative was completely useless, and the debt talks were in breakdown."
Boehner was complaining last week that in a negotiation 'neither side gets everything it wants.' Again, this is rich. It's the GOP that thinks a negotiation is where they get everything they want and the Dems get nothing. They're still doing this now. After all, if the Dems give them entitlement cuts or changes to Obamacare what do they get in return? Simply having the debt ceiling raised and the government not shutdown? So these are Democrat desires but the GOP doesn't particularly want these things?
"Aha. Paul Ryan, the Serious, Honest Conservative (the media myth) — as opposed to Paul Ryan the unserious, dishonest partisan (always the reality) — made a brief reappearance over the past couple of days. Needless to say, his initiative was completely useless, and the debt talks were in breakdown."
"What Ryan offered was billed as a compromise; I do not think that word means what they think it means. It involved reducing the harshness of the sequester — which Republicans and Democrats both want — in return for Medicare and/or Social Security cuts, which only Republicans want. Oh, and it only postponed the debt ceiling crisis, setting the stage for further extortion attempts."
"So: you give me something, I give you nothing, and I don’t threaten your wife and kids until next week. Compromise!"
"What I’m told is that the really crucial thing for the WH is a matter of principle: no deal unless the extortion ends. And Rs just can’t or won’t give up the idea that they deserve to be rewarded for not blowing up the world.."
This is what this is really about. No longer governing from crisis to crisis. The GOP now thinks that every time the debt ceiling needs to be raised it's an opportunity for them-no doubt, in part because they did get something out of raising it back in 2011. Until they come to understand that it's not the dysfunction will continue. So Obama is right not to offer anything. The truth is that the longer this goes on the worst it is for Republicans. They're only hope was that the Dems would cave quickly. As this hasn't happened this is blowing up in GOP faces. They want Democrats to take the sting off of it.
The Dems are rightly demurring. Sorry, but extortion and hostage taking cannot be shown to pay.
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