TPM Reader GR doesn’t like the feel of this …
While I don’t agree with Gergen’s reasoning, I think that he is on to something. Krugman’s blog post today is closer to what I think is going to happen – nothing but a tantrum.
Many Republicans and some pundits are starting to point to President Bush’s very public faceplant when he tried to partially phase out Social Security after his reelection in 2004. The analogy is poor for two reasons.
First, what tripped up President Bush was that getting rid of Social Security was deeply unpopular. That was the key fact. A supposed ‘mandate’ couldn’t change that. Bush had also scarcely mentioned the issue during the campaign.
The contrast with President Obama should be clear. Hiking taxes for dollars made over $250,000 a year enjoys near overwhelming public support and it was the centerpiece of the president’s campaign.
Is Speaker Boehner really saying that he wants the deal Obama offered before Obama won reelection and when Boehner was holding the full faith and credit of the United States hostage?
Israelis always saw they have no partner for peace on the Palestinian side. I believe that’s a questionable proposition. But I’m not sure we can understand the current ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations without understanding that just that dilemma faces President Obama. He’s got no partner for fiscal peace. Whatever yakking Speaker Boehner does and however much he bluffs with no cards, the simple truth is that there’s no reason to believe he can deliver Republicans for any deal. Any deal. The key risk is Boehner’s weakness as Speaker.
When you run for Congress, you accept a certain responsibility to show up to vote. Especially on the big questions. Now, however, House Republicans are floating the possibility that they simply vote ‘present’ when extending all but the highest rates of the Bush tax cuts. In other words, not vote against or for. Simply not vote at all. And then regroup early next year for another round of debt limit hostage taking.
This morning the Supreme Court deferred their announcement on gay marriage cases. What does it mean and what are the implications for when the Court does take up the issue? TPM’s Sahil Kapur will be answering those questions and ones about the on-going fiscal cliff negotiations in a Live Chat today at 4 PM eastern at TPMPrime. Get your questions in now.
Ummmm … The last time a sitting Governor of a state left on an unexplained vacation and staffers refused to disclose where they were or when they’d return, things ended up getting pretty weird. Looks like we’ve got another Guv in an undisclosed location. Read More
Voyager spacecraft enters newly discovered region at far edge of solar system.
Brian Beutler on where Nancy Pelosi fits in to the fiscal cliff negotiations.