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According to Jon Ward, conservative strategists have expressed worry over the game of chicken that House Republicans want to play with the debt limit. I’m not at all convinced that House Republicans actually want to play that game of chicken. This sounds much more credible.
“The Republicans are looking at this as just another opening to force the president’s hand, to hold everything hostage again,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), who predicted many House Democrats would buck Obama and vote against raising the debt ceiling if the bill had too many GOP cuts attached.
“The White House shouldn’t cave, and the Republicans shouldn’t count on that. The White House needs to be tough on this one,” he added.
Republicans probably are counting on Democrats to save them from the worst-case scenario. But let’s not overlook what we already know – Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has maintained, and nobody has denied, that Republicans personally assured the President that they would raise the debt limit. The rest of this is just play-acting. The fact that the Obama fiscal policy speech included a trigger similar to what Republicans are proposing as a budget process reform to reduce spending gives the game away here. The White House can say they got the increase in the debt limit they wanted, the Republicans can say they got the budget reform they wanted, but both will generally be moving along the same plane to the same goal.
Peter Orszag says in the Politico piece, “The most likely outcome is a series of targets backed up by a trigger.” I don’t see much of a reason to doubt that. There’s certainly a way to avoid that, by simply demanding a clean bill and letting the business community do all the work of pressuring Republicans. The National Association of Manufacturers has officially registered as a lobbyist on the debt limit, among other groups with a lot of sway with Republicans. The “my offer is this, nothing” strategy could work. But I don’t know why anyone would think that the White House particularly wants to explore that strategy.
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Still waiting for the day the White House gets tough. Not.
Thanks, David.
McGovern’s remarks make me feel even worse about the progression of this argument over the coming month.
So if it only has some cuts, or if it only has Dem cuts, more cuts are okay?
Shit. Here we go.
WH won’t get tough. Rs will come thru for Wall Street, Ds will cave to their cuts in the budget as payback for them being ‘reasonable’ on the DL.
Obama likes to claim ‘support’ for progressive positions at the same time he’s tromping right over them. I haven’t heard him say yet that he’d straight up veto a bill that comes across his desk, for example, extending the Bush tax cuts. Until we get a Read My Lips out of him, I won’t believe he’s even pretending to be serious about that.
OMG! The vampire squid is in trouble. Wonder if the Bernank will say anything about this on Wednesday afternoon?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/imf-bombshell-age-of-america-about-to-end-2011-04-25?link=MW_home_latest_news
Same old, same old. They’re making deal that everyone except progressives want, i.e. deep, counterproductive cuts to social programs, and in a way for R’s to look tough, D’s to look tough, and O to look “bipartisan”. Why can’t the government spend as much time on crafting good policy as it does crafting false appearances?
When has this WH never NOT caved?
But Obama WANTS cuts.
Wish they would buck the WH and start a TVA or WPA type program to put America back to work.
Not even the fee for the gaming license? (Which we would all like to see Boehner and Cantor pick up, personally.)
Good one, David.
You’re correct. It’s obvious that the Wall Steet benefactors would never let a bunch of cranks screw around with the debt ceiling. That being the case, the Dems could easily play chicken and win. Will they do that? Of course not.
Hey Dems: Surprise us. Do something other than what we’ve come to expect.
Weenies.
Obama doesn’t cave. This has pretty much gone the way he wants. He said, “I get what I want.” He meant it. Why is that so hard to believe?
Peter Orzag. Doesn’t he work as vice chairman of global banking at Citigroup? Wasn’t he the director of OMB for OBAMA? And didn’t he go to the same super elite boarding school as Gregg and Conrad?
Why does/did anyone listen to a twerp like that?
ditto – :-)
Dems & GOPS whore for the same interests. Everything else is just kabuki. They put up a public show of bitter opposition to one another, but behind closed doors they party together with hookers, blow…..
There’s no need speculate ahead of time whether Republicans are serious about not raising the debt ceiling, except in exchange for serious long-term spending cuts. All Democrats have to do to find out is refuse to agree to the serious long-term spending cuts. They won’t even have to wait long.
Thanks for the “Godfather Part II” reference.
Obama block something Wall St, Timmy and Ben want?
It will never happen.
Especially if it continues to bail out the rich and fuck normal Americans.
Yes, both want the same thing.
1) Gut the social safety net;
2) Raise the debt limit.
Yes, Tim and Ben want what Republicans want:
1) Continue the redistribution of income from the unproductive (disabled, old, uneducated, poor, middle class) to the productive (the wealthy, the elite).
Everything else is just posturing.
In the long run, the best possible thing would be a “no” vote on the extension of the debt limit. That would force a serious address to our problems. Bring it on!