He's right that his party has completely overplayed it's hand, though, that's nothing new, they always do that. Yet he claims that whenever he tries to negotiate with Obama and the Dems they move the goalposts.
"The president is a pathetic leader. He’s only engaged in the last couple of days,” Graham said after the Senate blocked action on a Democratic plan for a “clean” debt-ceiling increase through 2014. “Every time you get close to getting a deal over here with our Democratic friends, they move the ball because some poll comes out. Our friends in the House apparently can’t muster the votes to send something over here to open up the government. So it’s dysfunction at every level.”
“This is a very frustrated Lindsey Graham,” he added. “Which is a very dangerous thing.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/dangerous-lindsey-graham-vents-frustrations-98226.html#ixzz2hbBDLfUD
See how little sense this makes? A dangerous Graham is one who's going to throw another poison pill into the mix. If the country is being screwed up why participate? Why not actually try something constructive?
"The president is a pathetic leader. He’s only engaged in the last couple of days,” Graham said after the Senate blocked action on a Democratic plan for a “clean” debt-ceiling increase through 2014. “Every time you get close to getting a deal over here with our Democratic friends, they move the ball because some poll comes out. Our friends in the House apparently can’t muster the votes to send something over here to open up the government. So it’s dysfunction at every level.”
"But the 58-year-old Graham wasn’t through venting yet. “You can blame us [Republicans], we’ve overplayed our hand, that’s for damn sure,” Graham said. “But their response, where the president and [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid] basically shutting everybody out, and when you try to negotiate, they keep changing the terms of the deal … it’s very frustrating.”
“This is a very frustrated Lindsey Graham,” he added. “Which is a very dangerous thing.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/dangerous-lindsey-graham-vents-frustrations-98226.html#ixzz2hbBDLfUD
I really don't know where he's been. In fact, Obama and the Dems haven't moved the goalposts at all during this fiasco. They've always insisted that they aren't going to negotiate with hostage takers and that they will pay no ransom, not even a trivial one.
Krugman observes:
"Still no resolution on the debt ceiling, and I think people are still too optimistic here. Republicans still aren’t willing to walk away from this without some kind of trophy, so they can claim victory; the whole point of Obama’s position is that you don’t get anything, not even something trivial, as a reward for threatening disaster."
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/business-and-the-gop/?_r=0
As Pat Murray says:
"The decision by Reid and his leadership team to stand firm -- 12 days into a government shutdown and within five days of breaching the debt limit -- signal that Democrats believe they have the upper-hand in the impasse. Polls find that the GOP is bearing the blunt of the blame for the shutdown. Reid said Saturday that a proposal by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was "not going to go any place at this stage."
Krugman observes:
"Still no resolution on the debt ceiling, and I think people are still too optimistic here. Republicans still aren’t willing to walk away from this without some kind of trophy, so they can claim victory; the whole point of Obama’s position is that you don’t get anything, not even something trivial, as a reward for threatening disaster."
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/business-and-the-gop/?_r=0
As Pat Murray says:
"The decision by Reid and his leadership team to stand firm -- 12 days into a government shutdown and within five days of breaching the debt limit -- signal that Democrats believe they have the upper-hand in the impasse. Polls find that the GOP is bearing the blunt of the blame for the shutdown. Reid said Saturday that a proposal by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was "not going to go any place at this stage."
No. 4 Democratic Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said Republicans "have to stop asking for hostages in order for our country to be OK."
So the Dems haven't changed their position. It's just taking Repubs a long time till understand it. You don't get to legislate via the loaded gun of the debt ceiling or funding the government. The GOP just wants something they can say they achieved, some 'trophy' as Krugman puts it. As Harry Reid says they've totally embarrassed themselves now and want to save face.
"Asked if the device tax is still on the table, Reid said, "Isn't it interesting how that's not part of the discussion anymore? ... Obama is no longer their No. 1 issue. Their No. 1 issue is to do anything they can to divert attention from the fools they've made of themselves on Obamacare. So we're taking nothing off the table."
So Graham's real complaint seems to be that the GOP has overplayed its hand and it's up to the Dems to be nice guys and help them save face. The Dems are rightly not doing this. I guess this pique of saving face would be a little more forgivable if it weren't literally the reason that we are now looking down a precipice of disaster.
"Since the government was forced to shut down on October 1st, one of the most common refrains has been that some members of Congress are acting like children—or, more accurately, worse than most children. Even 5-year-olds understand that quitting the game and taking the ball home because the other team won’t give you your way is wrong. Extremist Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives continue to hold funding for the federal government hostage for the second week in a row, opposing a clean extension of government funding without conditions. Their actions as they refuse to do their constitutionally mandated duty are harming the economy and countless real children and families across the country."
"To make all of this worse, a severe economic meltdown is predicted if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling in the next two weeks to pay the nation’s bills and obligations. Meanwhile some members of Congress continue to show worse “compromising” skills than spoiled toddlers. Enough is enough. Call or email your own representative and tell them they must act now to fully fund the federal government and raise the debt ceiling without any conditions. Tell them to stop the shutdown and prevent an economic meltdown for the sake of our children."
The Republicans are basically making us look down this precipice out of nothing but hurt feelings-which is how the first govt. shutdown happened-because Clinton snubbed Gingrich on Air Force One.
Meanwhile. what things might a 'dangerous Lindsay Graham' do? Here's his answer:
By Saturday afternoon, Graham suggested he may try to attach a version of Sen. David Vitter’s (R-La.) amendment ending health-care subsidies for lawmakers and congressional staffers to any Reid-McConnell agreement. Graham knows it’s a potential poison pill for any deal, but he is that unhappy right now.
“I am going to look at offering the Vitter language on anything that comes out of the Senate,” Graham told reporters. “If we’re going to screw up the whole country, we might as well throw ourselves in the mix.”
See how little sense this makes? A dangerous Graham is one who's going to throw another poison pill into the mix. If the country is being screwed up why participate? Why not actually try something constructive?
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