Patterico's Pontifications

9/20/2011

White House gives the budget game away

Filed under: 2012 Election,Politics — Karl @ 6:19 pm



[Posted by Karl]

Right from the horse’s mouth — Pres. Obama was never interested in a bipartisan debt-reduction deal:

“It is fair to say we’ve entered a new phase,” said Dan Pfeiffer, Mr. Obama’s communications director. But he disputed what he called the conventional wisdom behind the president’s shift.

“The popular narrative is that we sought compromise in a quixotic quest for independent votes. We sought out compromise because a failure to get funding of the government last spring and then an extension of the debt ceiling in August would have been very bad for the economy and for the country,” Mr. Pfeiffer added. “We were in a position of legislative compromise by necessity. That phase is behind us.”

In this new phase, Mr. Obama must solidify support among Democrats by standing pat for progressive party principles, while trusting that a show of strong leadership for the policies he believes in will appeal to independents. Polls consistently suggest that perhaps the only thing that unites independents as much as their desire for compromise is their inclination toward leaders who signal strength by fighting for their beliefs. (Emphasis added.)*

Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for July 22, 2011 (not even two months ago), to the middle of the negotiations about raising the debt ceiling:

[GOP leaders] Boehner and Cantor were ready to accept up to $800 billion in revenue measures as part of a grand bargain. But when that number jumped, in part because of pressure from Democrats, the talks broke down. (Emphasis added.)

Obama had demanded another $400 billion or so in taxes.  And the amount Obama is demanding now as part of his fundamentally deceptive proposal is about the same, a bit less than $1.3 trillion in taxes.

The House GOP negotiators were willing to meet Obama more than halfway to his ultimate position.  He wrecked the “grand bargain” and helped bring about the S&P credit downgrade.  He now pushes again for the full loaf.  David Brooks looks like an even bigger sap and Andrew Sullivan looks like an even bigger loon.

*The combination of income growth and casualties explains 70% of the variation in the vote of pure independents.  In fact, the relationship between the economy and elections is stronger among independents than among partisans.  Evaluate the Pfeiffer/NYT theory accordingly.

–Karl

32 Responses to “White House gives the budget game away”

  1. So all that talk from Obama about how he was writing a bipartisan bill? That was just…..a lie?

    MayBee (081489)

  2. Since when did Obama, or his staff, ever write a bill?
    I thought they just sent bills that needed to be paid.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (3c2b69)

  3. “The popular narrative” – so very revealing.

    I remember:

    “The narrative was right, but the facts were wrong.”

    jim2 (40de07)

  4. MayBee – it was, and always will be.

    JD (318f81)

  5. “a new phase” of fail… obama is a dippy dippy bumble but even he has to know he’s a fraud – his wife is certainly crabby enough by nature to be congenitally unable to not but know it … she zeros in on flaws like her friend oprah zeroes in on a tasty cupcake

    losers

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  6. Lol Moochelle zooms in on that cupcake even faster than Oprah.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  7. I’m a big fan of Keith Hennessey’s work.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  8. I’m socially centrist and I believe if states want to recognize gay marriage they should.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  9. O is now running for president. He’s left being president far behind.

    He seems to be basing his strategy on appealing to the Michael Moore base rather than, you know, people who vote.

    Who knows why. It is doubtful his anticipated second term would improve with a GOP-led House and Senate.

    I suspect Michelle likes the vacations.

    If you really think about it, though, he should decline to run again.

    If he left the office, he would be remembered as the first African-American President, no small accomplishment.

    Plus, he would be the ultimate elder statesman. The media would exhalt him as the smartest man in the world who just couldn’t overcome those rednecks. He would be welcomed in all the world’s capitals as the man who tried, but couldn’t overcome America’s racism.

    He could be as rich as Gore and considered America’s Gorbachev. He could have so much.

    Yet, he’s wasting his time running as a class warrior.

    Of course, if he is re-elected, he’ll have all that after his second term. Maybe it’s a win-win for him.

    The rest of us will have to suffer four more years of ridiculous media adoration and who knows how many international humiliations.

    Ag80 (9a213d)

  10. Obama 2012: Pull My Other Finger

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  11. daley:

    Much better put.

    Ag80 (9a213d)

  12. Opposition to taxes means you hate math?

    DohBiden (d54602)

  13. Obama 2012: Who Could Do Worse

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  14. daleyrocks,

    I follow only 37 people on Twitter. Hennessey is one of them.

    Karl (37b303)

  15. Karl – I don’t read him as often as I should. He was great on ObamaCare.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  16. Two Words Describe Obama: Jerk Meat

    He’s worse than the wanker in chief we had during the Clinton Years.

    Comanche Voter (0e06a9)

  17. Obama 2012: It’s not about creating jobs. It’s about taking sh*t away from rich people and evil corporations. That’s math.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  18. 18. “Polls consistently suggest that perhaps the only thing that unites independents as much as their desire for compromise is their inclination toward leaders who signal strength by fighting for their beliefs”

    WTF? I detest compromise.

    gary gulrud (790d43)

  19. Quote from Sully’s post: “But Obama, to my mind, has successfully demonstrated he has been willing to compromise…”

    What color is the sky in his world?

    physics geek (6669a4)

  20. Oh come on now. You’re actually suggesting the “The one thing Independents like more than compromise is…” was based in fact and not pure fiction ?

    Give me a break.

    deadrody (2b3d69)

  21. It has two suns like Tatooine.

    ian cormac (ed5f69)

  22. Why does anybody want to read things into statements that aren’t there?

    the conventional wisdom behind the president’s shift.

    Read this carefully:

    “The popular narrative is that we sought compromise in a quixotic quest for independent votes. We sought out compromise because a failure to get funding of the government last spring and then an extension of the debt ceiling in August would have been very bad for the economy and for the country ,” Mr. Pfeiffer added.

    He is saying hey never did it for votes. He is saying, yes, that he doesn’t want compromise for its own sake. Although Obama did talk that way during the campaign. But they could say that is because compromise is often necessary.

    (Obama’s model is 1950’s Civil Rights legislation – i.e. the people who wanted to get half a loaf were right. Same thing with labor law, national health insurance etc. He’s really been consistent about this. The big problem with Obama is that he rarely gives any kind of thought to the actual merits of anything he is favor of, like as if the big conflict in politics is between good and evil.

    Now he has begun saying things he absolutely knows are not true. It is possible a used car salesman would be more careful with the facts.

    That’s because he thinks he has to sell entitlement cuts that will hurt people and his idea is that “a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down” and the sugar he has in mind is higher taxes for the well off. I know that’s kind of crazy but that’s the way it is.

    Sammy Finkelman (9ab1e5)

  23. I didn’t end the italics. It should becak to regular again starting with:

    He is saying they never did it for votes.

    Sammy Finkelman (9ab1e5)

  24. Sammy – Eat your peas.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  25. Meet the new phase, same as the old phase.

    Patricia (1832e5)

  26. WTF? I detest compromise.

    Comment by gary gulrud

    Because you have brain enough to know what you want.

    You either want spending to be sane, or you want entitlements to be expanded into socialism.

    Obviously, you’re in the former.

    Obama is more interested in the morons who don’t understand this is the choice. These morons want everything. Spending cuts and more goodies. All at the non-cost of taxing corporate jets and Warren Buffett. It’s a lie that works best if everything is complicated and elites in the media pretend it’s plausible.

    But enough of these people have a job that they will at least vote to change presidents if the GOP candidate is the ‘jobs’ guy.

    Sad political reality.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  27. Obama goes by the “Costanza’ rule, ‘it’s not a lie,
    if you believe it’ compromise in this case, means obviously going along with everything he says and does. That was the template he saw Reagan, from,
    ‘doing the dark deeds,’ that caused him to take up community organizing,

    ian cormac (ed5f69)

  28. Obama 2012: Remember, I’m Black

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  29. Obama 2012: [Republican Nominee] is the devil.

    Dustin (b2fb78)

  30. I don’t agree with Mccarthy but some of qhat he said is correct.

    The left use his tactics to demonize opponents of communism.

    DohBiden (d54602)

  31. Why does the Left, who profess so much love for employees (The Working Man/Prolitariat), hold so much hate in their hearts for employers?
    For, without what they hate so much, there could never be that which they profess to love and admire.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (343797)

  32. Comment by ian cormac — 9/21/2011 @ 8:49 am

    “Fake but Accurate” is the height of profundity on the Left.

    Another Drew - Restore the Republic / Obama Sucks! (343797)


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