So we’re still seething with righteous indignation this morning. About how Obama capitulated, gave away the store, rolled over, pick your metaphor.
All is not lost, of course. The deal he negotiated (get used to it) with the GOP (yup) to maintain current tax rates and — more significantly, in my opinion — extend unemployment benefits still has to be voted on, providing one more opportunity for Congressional Democrats to actually stand for what the party’s base says they should stand for.
What are the chances of this happening: for a unified party to stand up, block the deal and deliver legislation that the president would still gladly sign?
I thought so.
Had Obama not cut a deal, the likely outcome would have been a new year with no UI extension, expired tax cuts and the prospect of months of additional wrangling to achieve at best what we have now.
In other words, a left-wing iteration of the Party of No.
Unfortunately for those of us who live in the neverneverland of supermajorities and sweeping progressive mandates, no matter how stiff your spine or how hot your air, you can’t accomplish much without leverage.
The majority of folks in this country may not favor tax breaks for millionaires, but are they willing to risk an increase in their own taxes to stop rich folk from getting theirs? I thought so.
Democrats couldn’t even raise the modest political capital necessary to extend federal unemployment benefits, which should have been a layup with unemployment hovering near 10 percent.
So what, exactly, was the bargaining power the president supposedly brought to the table? Indignation? Fury at the implacable opposition of the party to which voters gave the keys to House just last month?
When your own party controls both houses and can’t corral the votes to deliver the legislation you’d like to have, you’ve got no leverage. So you go to the other side and get what you can.
And the reality is that he probably got about the best he could get. Get used to it.
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