Y2Kev said:
Sure. Absolutely. But this is the first time I've actually been sympathetic, like I said. The Republicans will screw everyone with their nonsense. There was no reason for him to ignore his presidential advantage for health care, for tax cuts, for the stimulus, etc etc etc. This time...I get it.
I didn't take my thought through to the end point I had in mind, but this has consequences for policy as well. In praising a deeply compromised stimulus bill and declaring it sufficient, Obama helped to set the perception his fiscal stimulus was a failure, rather than an inadequate response to a deeper recession than they expected. If the framing had been about a hesitant Obama signing a compromised bill under the condition that we'd see additional stimulus should the recession prove deeper than expected, the subsequent policy response might have been different. Instead it was sold as the cure to the recession ("recovery summer", remember that?) and when it didn't work, fiscal stimulus was discredited.
Likewise with the finance reform bill, which tinkered around the edges of our current system, but was sold as a solution. But people don't - and won't - feel it, because it was an insufficient response to a broken and predatory system.
This was part of why Dem turnout was suppressed the last election cycle - the base was told to shut up and swallow what we knew to be bad policy, and be happy about it. We've seen the same cycle with Obama's embrace of austerity-mania in the face of an anemic economy and high unemployment. It's being sold as a good thing, when the damage to the economy will be real. Obama's political framing, his embrace of insufficient or misguided policy response is damaging the public discourse and having an effect on the quality of the legislation that is passing.
I'm sympathetic to Obama's current plight of dealing with unreasonable extremists in Congress, but it was in part brought upon himself, and he's only helping to legitimize them in making the concessions he is without more of a public fight.
At any rate, Twitter is alive with talk that the emerging deal includes huge automatic spending cuts, but NO revenue triggers. Meaning the GOP have every incentive to NOT strike a deal from the "super Congress" panel, and just stonewall while the triggers sweep into effect, giving them the rest of what they want.
If that really is the template for the deal - and it's by no means a sure thing - it will be the worst possible outcome, aside from default.
Pctx said:
fox is reporting Harry's bill failed 50-49
The United States Senate, ladies and gentleman. Where a bill gets voted on 50-49 and fails.
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