Just what do those Democrats think they're doing?
by digby
Ezra Klein was wondering just what the heck those Democrats think they're doing and did a little trip down memory lane yesterday and visited negotiations past. I'll pick up the narrative at the debt ceiling Grand Bargain debacle:
By the end of those negotiations, Obama had offered Boehner a deal that would cut the deficit by about $4 trillion, with only $800 billion to $1.2 trillion coming from revenue. That deal would also have raised the Medicare eligibility age to 67, cut Social Security and made the Bush tax cuts permanent. It was far to the right of both Obama’s previous offer and the Bowles-Simpson commission.
Last week, some of the Democrats on the supercommittee offered the Republicans a plan that would include about $1 trillion in revenue. That put it near even with the president’s proposal to Boehner. The expectation this week is that they will offer the Republicans yet a bit more than that, putting them well to the right of the president’s offer to Boehner, which was in turn well to the right of the president’s previous proposal, which was in turn well to the right of Bowles-Simpson.
So far, Republicans have not said yes to any of the deals the Democrats have offered. They continue to assume a better deal is just around the corner, and thus far, they have been right. Currently, they may be assuming that yet a better deal could be struck with, say, President Mitt Romney, and if he wins the election, they may well be right. If Obama wins, a reinvigorated Democratic majority might prove them wrong. But the fact remains: Their strategy of saying no has, thus far, paid great dividends, though not ones Republicans have decided to collect.
Well, I'd say that the fact that none of these things are popular with the people is one think keeping them from taking yes for an answer. But at some point, they very well might just figure it's time to cash in their chips. And golly won't that be great?
Even if that doesn't happen, however, the terms of the debate have permanently changed. Democrats have abandoned their role as the protectors of the safety net and are instead intent upon selling themselves as the "grown-ups" who "restored confidence" in the markets by seeking a "balanced approach." Their fundamental political rationale has been lost in the quixotic belief that the people will reward them for their "seriousness" about abstractions. It's going to be hard to get it back.
And Ezra makes that clear with this passing comment:
Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) emerged with a compromise proposal that would cap 2011’s appropriations at about $1.08 trillion, with more cuts coming in the years after that. Democrats defeated it by one vote...
Today, many Democrats would love to go back in time and accept the McCaskill-Sessions bill. And the same thing may well happen in the deficit “supercommittee.”
Ah yes, McCaskill-Sessions. The one that was supported by the entire GOP caucus and a small handful of Blue Dogs. That's now considered a "good deal." See how that works?
But hey, maybe nobody will notice:
Update: TPM reports that Jeb Hensarling went on TV today and basically said the Republicans don't care about this deal and that they are perfectly wiling to bust the triggers. Good. This whole thing is crap anyway.
But you do have to love their political stylings. They're pretending they've made a major concession by "agreeing" to raise a few fees and (temporarily) close some loopholes in exchange for making the Bush tax cuts permanent.
And they are using this term "static revenue" which Brian Beutler explains:
When Hensarling says “static,” he means revenue that will actually, predictably come into the Treasury. Republicans claim in a Laffer-ite way that their preferred tax policy will create enough economic growth to raise revenues even if the math says it won’t. Democrats reject that kind of analysis.
That's how they get over with the people who aren't paying any attention and have no clue what these people are going on about. And you can see from that chart that there are a lot of them.
(This supply-side stuff will make you feel reeeal good. Try it, go on try it.)
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