Republicans Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory in Deficit/Debt Ceiling Talks

If the Cliché Fits, Use it

The Republican Fiscal agenda consists of the following.

1. Substantial Reduction in Spending on Social Programs that help the most vulnerable of Americans
2. Reductions in Medicare that could lead to the ultimate demise of the program
3. Reduction of Marginal Tax Rates for High Income Individuals and Corporations.

President Obama offered the Republicans

1. None of the Above
2. Some of the Above
3. All of the Above



Jewel Samad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images



“Essentially what we had offered Speaker Boehner was over a trillion dollars in cuts to discretionary spending, both domestic and defense,” Mr. Obama said. “We then offered an additional $650 billion in cuts to entitlement programs — Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. We believed that it was possible to shape those in a way that preserved the integrity of the system, made them available for the next generation and did not affect current beneficiaries in an adverse way.”

So if you picked answer C, go to the head of class for the course Negotiations 101 – Giving the Other Side Everything They Want.  So now what is happening?

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  Mr. Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor -WSJ photo

  
  

  The Wall Street Journal is reported that House Speaker John Boehner will cease negotiations with President Obama on a massive cut in Federal spending in return for passing a debt ceiling bill.  In a letter

Mr. Boehner wrote to colleagues that "it became evident that the White House is simply not serious" about cutting spending.

thus raising the question of whether or Mr. Boehner is the most clueless man in the continental U.S. or just  the most clueless man in the greater Washington D. C. Metropolitan area.

Mr. Obama is reported to be angry that the Republicans will not accept the Republican deal.   And now Mr. Boehner will instead, well what he will do instead is unknown. 

Confused?  You won’t be after, . . . Well, The Dismal Political Economist doesn’t know when you will not be confused.  It's too confusing to say.