Grand or otherwise, there's no bargaining with these Republicans by DailyKos
"The elections are over, the celebrations and recriminations will run their courses, and soon we will return to discussions, debates and battles over policy. The fiscal cliff looms. Sequestration comes soon. We are about to hear a lot about budgets and deficits and spending cuts, but Democrats must not allow the very political and economic dynamics that played such a key role in the party's electoral rout to be forgotten or trivialized by a misplaced focus on the false political and economic narratives that should into those dynamics be subsumed. The economic recovery appears to be real, but it is still very fragile. It is not time to play 1937 again. The focus must be on creating jobs and growing the economy. Deficits must be a lower and longer term priority. Budget cuts and deficit fever do not create jobs or grow the economy.
In the latter months of 2011, the Occupy Movement changed the political and economic narrative in this country, including in Congress and by the White House. An Obama administration that had foundered during the budget and fiscal showdowns was rejuvenated as it reconnected with the Democratic Party's economic roots. By refocusing on income inequality and jobs creation, the president and Congressional Democrats were able to seize the economic narrative, both by emphasizing that the Obama stimulus had saved the economy while creating over 3 million jobs, and by drawing a clear contrast with the Republicans when attempting to pass a new jobs creating stimulus which the Republicans in Congress killed. Sometimes losing a principled legislative fight creates the opportunity for political triumph and ultimate legislative victory. But such opportunities must not be missed or such victories will be lost.
By now it should be clear to everyone that President Obama is by nature a conciliator. Every president and every presidential candidate gives lip service to the idea of working across the aisle, but when President Obama speaks it, he means it. It's part of who he is. He wants to believe the best about people, because he has the quiet confidence to believe the best about himself. He does believe that this nation is best when the sum of its disparate parts add up to a greater whole because his entire personal history has been proof that the sum of disparate parts can become a greater whole. But the people with whom President Obama wants to work, with the best intentions for the common good, do not themselves have good intentions, either toward him or the common good."
"The Republicans are more cynical than even the most cynical pundits, most of whom prefer to create false equivalencies than to tell the truth about just how cynical the Republicans truly are. The Republicans wallow in their individual ambitions. Even on a night when most of the country, from all political persuasions and from no political persuasions, would have liked to take a respite from antagonism and acrimony, the Republican leader of the Senate remained as petty and divisive as ever "
"In reality, McConnell never moved to the center, even as the president spent considerable time and political capital attempting to meet Republicans half way on a host of issues, only to be met every time with nothing but belligerence and obstruction and broken promises. So after an election in which the president won almost every swing state; in which Democrats overcame a tough electoral map that a year ago had everyone assuming they would be lucky to hold their Senate majority, and instead expanded it; in which Democrats closed the gap in the House, despite redistricting that minimized their opportunities, McConnell insists that it's the president's job to make proposals that will meet the approval of the Republicans, and Boehner makes clear that the Republicans will not compromise.
Despite an electoral drubbing, the Republicans have not changed. Despite an electoral drubbing, the Republicans still want to destroy the president rather than work with him to create a better future for all. Despite an electoral drubbing, the Republican Congressional leaders could not even for one night or one day attempt to be gracious and reflective and respectful of the will of the electorate who had just handed them that electoral drubbing. They are such small people that on election night they couldn't even bother to answer the phone when the conciliatory president attempted to call. "
"The president shouldn't even pretend to entertain considering the Republican approach. He should, instead, expose such an approach for the fraud it is, and continue to make the case that we need jobs and a growing economy, and that focusing on the deficit will not create jobs or grow the economy. He also should make the case that creating jobs and growing the economy will begin to reduce the deficit, all by itself, just as his health care law, which the Republicans opposed and have continually tried to repeal, will reduce the deficit, just as his stimulus-driven economic approach already has been reducing the deficit. "
"After a hard fought election in which two competing economic models were sharply debated, the man who won with a mandate margin has no reason to compromise. Even if the Republicans hadn't so consistently proved themselves petty and vindictive and intransigent and dishonest, there would be no reason for President Obama to compromise. The president won with a growth agenda, and Mitt Romney lost with an austerity agenda. On both politics and policy, the president holds all the cards. The traditional Democratic approach works, and the Republican and conservative agenda fails. When Democrats stand their ground, Republicans back down. The president already has threatened to veto a "fiscal cliff" bill that doesn't include tax hikes for the wealthy, and if McConnell and Boehner won't negotiate, they must be made to take the fall for any failure. "
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/11/1159341/-Grand-or-otherwise-there-s-no-bargaining-with-these-Republicans
"The elections are over, the celebrations and recriminations will run their courses, and soon we will return to discussions, debates and battles over policy. The fiscal cliff looms. Sequestration comes soon. We are about to hear a lot about budgets and deficits and spending cuts, but Democrats must not allow the very political and economic dynamics that played such a key role in the party's electoral rout to be forgotten or trivialized by a misplaced focus on the false political and economic narratives that should into those dynamics be subsumed. The economic recovery appears to be real, but it is still very fragile. It is not time to play 1937 again. The focus must be on creating jobs and growing the economy. Deficits must be a lower and longer term priority. Budget cuts and deficit fever do not create jobs or grow the economy.
In the latter months of 2011, the Occupy Movement changed the political and economic narrative in this country, including in Congress and by the White House. An Obama administration that had foundered during the budget and fiscal showdowns was rejuvenated as it reconnected with the Democratic Party's economic roots. By refocusing on income inequality and jobs creation, the president and Congressional Democrats were able to seize the economic narrative, both by emphasizing that the Obama stimulus had saved the economy while creating over 3 million jobs, and by drawing a clear contrast with the Republicans when attempting to pass a new jobs creating stimulus which the Republicans in Congress killed. Sometimes losing a principled legislative fight creates the opportunity for political triumph and ultimate legislative victory. But such opportunities must not be missed or such victories will be lost.
By now it should be clear to everyone that President Obama is by nature a conciliator. Every president and every presidential candidate gives lip service to the idea of working across the aisle, but when President Obama speaks it, he means it. It's part of who he is. He wants to believe the best about people, because he has the quiet confidence to believe the best about himself. He does believe that this nation is best when the sum of its disparate parts add up to a greater whole because his entire personal history has been proof that the sum of disparate parts can become a greater whole. But the people with whom President Obama wants to work, with the best intentions for the common good, do not themselves have good intentions, either toward him or the common good."
"The Republicans are more cynical than even the most cynical pundits, most of whom prefer to create false equivalencies than to tell the truth about just how cynical the Republicans truly are. The Republicans wallow in their individual ambitions. Even on a night when most of the country, from all political persuasions and from no political persuasions, would have liked to take a respite from antagonism and acrimony, the Republican leader of the Senate remained as petty and divisive as ever "
"In reality, McConnell never moved to the center, even as the president spent considerable time and political capital attempting to meet Republicans half way on a host of issues, only to be met every time with nothing but belligerence and obstruction and broken promises. So after an election in which the president won almost every swing state; in which Democrats overcame a tough electoral map that a year ago had everyone assuming they would be lucky to hold their Senate majority, and instead expanded it; in which Democrats closed the gap in the House, despite redistricting that minimized their opportunities, McConnell insists that it's the president's job to make proposals that will meet the approval of the Republicans, and Boehner makes clear that the Republicans will not compromise.
Despite an electoral drubbing, the Republicans have not changed. Despite an electoral drubbing, the Republicans still want to destroy the president rather than work with him to create a better future for all. Despite an electoral drubbing, the Republican Congressional leaders could not even for one night or one day attempt to be gracious and reflective and respectful of the will of the electorate who had just handed them that electoral drubbing. They are such small people that on election night they couldn't even bother to answer the phone when the conciliatory president attempted to call. "
"The president shouldn't even pretend to entertain considering the Republican approach. He should, instead, expose such an approach for the fraud it is, and continue to make the case that we need jobs and a growing economy, and that focusing on the deficit will not create jobs or grow the economy. He also should make the case that creating jobs and growing the economy will begin to reduce the deficit, all by itself, just as his health care law, which the Republicans opposed and have continually tried to repeal, will reduce the deficit, just as his stimulus-driven economic approach already has been reducing the deficit. "
"After a hard fought election in which two competing economic models were sharply debated, the man who won with a mandate margin has no reason to compromise. Even if the Republicans hadn't so consistently proved themselves petty and vindictive and intransigent and dishonest, there would be no reason for President Obama to compromise. The president won with a growth agenda, and Mitt Romney lost with an austerity agenda. On both politics and policy, the president holds all the cards. The traditional Democratic approach works, and the Republican and conservative agenda fails. When Democrats stand their ground, Republicans back down. The president already has threatened to veto a "fiscal cliff" bill that doesn't include tax hikes for the wealthy, and if McConnell and Boehner won't negotiate, they must be made to take the fall for any failure. "
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/11/1159341/-Grand-or-otherwise-there-s-no-bargaining-with-these-Republicans
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