How (Not) to Have a Bipartisan and Adult Conversation on Fiscally Responsible Policies
August 8th, 2010 . by economistmomVisit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
House GOP Leader John Boehner seems to have trouble responding to David Gregory’s very direct questions to him regarding deficit-financed tax cuts on today’s Meet the Press. He just won’t come out of his ideological corner, no matter how hard David tries to lure him out with quotes from a suddenly agile Alan Greenspan doing his boxer shuffle from the center of the ring.
Kind of ironic, given that right after the exchange on tax cuts, Boehner claims to be ready to carry on an “adult conversation” with Democrats regarding Social Security reform–except he won’t even respond directly to David’s questions on that topic, either. And of course, if you asked many of the Democrats to respond to the same questions on tax cuts, even they might have trouble responding directly to the suggestion that deficit-financed tax cuts are not fiscally responsible–because they themselves support most of the same permanent, deficit-financed tax cuts that Boehner does. At the same time many Democrats have trouble talking about Social Security without staying in their version of their (opposite) ideological corner.
Guess it’s easier talking about having adult conversations (in theory) than actually having them (in practice).
A plague on all their houses.
Strong comments to follow.
Economistmom,
First of all, Boehner doesn’t have to votes to stop the Bush Tax cuts from disappearing. Focusing on Boehner is an attempt to direct attention away from the Democrats who are responsible for any tax cuts that could be enacted.
I negotiate multi-million dollar commercial lending deals all the time so I understand Boehner’s dilemma. You don’t want your opposite party in the negotiations to hear what you’re willing to give up without any reciprocity. It’s known as not “negotiating with yourself.”
David Gregory’s question is fair, but Boehner isn’t going to negotiate with David Gregory, because David Gregory isn’t a player. He’s an observer.
Good negotiators make maximalist demands and then make concessions only when there is an exchange of commensurate value from the counterparty. Boehner is a good negotiator.
I’ve yet to hear a single Democrat publicly declare anything of significant political value that they’re willing to exchange with the Republicans for the sake of deficit reduction. In fact, the Democrats sucked out trillions of dollars of future revenues that could have been dedicated to deficit reduction and instead directed them toward Obamacare. Where didn’t hear any complaints from you while that was taking place.
What VAT Brat said.
The job of an interviewer is to extract a controversial statement from a politician. The job of the politician is to avoid making such a statement, since it will be taken out of context and used against him.
Any deal on entitlements can only be negotiated behind closed doors, and probably not even then. Those on both sides who fear a deal will try to get the other side to make public commitments that make a private agreement impossible. It’s all part of a dysfunctional game.
Why do the Sunday talk shows have the same tired, old, partisans as guests. We know their answers before they open their mouths. BTW, why was Boehner orange?
Maybe Boehner is using skin coloring creams rather than tanning salons, due to the new tax?