The Republican Version of ‘Compromise’

Posted on 12/01/2010 at 9:58 am by Bob Cesca

The White House concedes the federal pay freeze and agrees to form a bipartisan panel on the Bush tax rates, and this is how the Republicans play along:

According to a letter delivered to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this morning, Republicans will block all debate on all legislation until the tax cut impasse is bridged and the federal government has been fully funded — even if it means days tick by and the Senate misses its opportunity to pass DADT, an extension of unemployment insurance and other Dem items.

Rachel Maddow ran a segment last night about bipartisan compromise and cooperation. I think the White House needs to watch it. Repeatedly. I think the president is more interested in pandering to voters who claim to want bipartisanship, but in the process he’s looking weaker — not more magnanimous.

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  • Kylespires

    I don’t know why he doesn’t take charge and start a strong push to make the Republicans out to be the villains. He keeps trying to compromise with people who only want his downfall, whatever the consequences to the nation.Stop throwing them bones. Roll over them.

  • kansasdem

    Loved the Maddow piece, I swear Obama and a lot of the Dems are living in some silly virtual reality.This nonsense about voters saying that they want compromise is absolute BS! I’m not aware of one single Repub that ran on a platform of compromise.I’m seriously sick and tired of Obama’s BS on this. He needs to pull his head out of the sand and realize that there will be no compromise!The Repubs are not going to allow you to realize any victory on any issue! And I’m tired of Dems trying to paint the tea-baggers as anything other than the latest re-branding of the far, far right!Christ, I’ve even heard Jimmy Carter and Howard Dean go down that road lately. It’s past time to wake the hell up!Any attempt to appease these Neanderthals is effing ridiculous! Grow a pair of Trumanesque balls and kick some ass!I’m seriously moving into the fire-bagger camp very quickly, and I don’t like it. I want to support Obama but unless I see some damn serious change in his attitude over the next year I’ll seriously be looking at primary challengers.I mean, if we’re going to get our asses handed to us anyway, we might as well represent who and what we really are, eh?Sorry for the AM rant ;^/

  • The Dork Knight

    Yeah. I can’t do it anymore. He’s well past looking weak, he clearly IS weak, which is 180 degrees from what I thought I was voting for.

  • Allonfla

    Look weaker to whom? to the 2% of the population keeping score? Honestly I’m getting tired of these bipartisanship lectures from the left. the administration is not stupid. We don’t know anymore than they do about republican obstruction. but if you all want to get DADT, DREAM, START and all that stuff passed before the new congress, he is going to need Republican votes. Its not an option folks so get over it. I’d understand these criticisms if he had all the votes already, he doesn’t. And I’d understand these criticisms if anyone was offering alternatives other than “bullypulpit”, doing nothing or pulling out the measuring sticks.The pay freeze has been called an empty gesture by just about everyone so why is everyone tripping that he didn’t get anything? he didn’t do it by executive order, congress still has to vote on it or not.

  • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ Nicole473
  • Irish Girl

    I’m with Kansasdem on this one. I’ve always prided myself on pragmatism and felt that Pres. Obama was working on getting votes and doing what was doable. I admired that. But he doesn’t have the votes on the issues that need to be passed (DADT, Dream, START) and he’s never going to. What we’re really disagreeing over here is whether the possibility of Repub votes is real or illusory. Allonfla believes its real and I (and Kansasdem apparently) believe its an illusion.And if its an illusion, then why not come out fighting and stand up for what we believe in? Why look weak and give them the political advantage? I’m all for pragmatism when its possible to get something done. But in the face of impossible odds, idealism is the only thing that will give us any satisfaction whatsoever.

  • Jan

    If there was the slightest chance of some coming together on all this legislation I would be all for it. Problem is THERE IS NO CHANCE. What I don’t get is why the DEMOCRATS don’t stand up and block all of the rethg legislation like they said they would block all of the dems bills.We’re looking at a Palin presidency if Obama et al don’t get their act together.

  • DaBomb

    @Allonfla- I agree with you. I just scan over the emo comments and sit back and watch as legislation keeps getting passed and people have egg on their faces.Because Rachel Maddow knows everything about legislating and governing since she has held an office right? I respect some of her stuff.The Pigford Settlement is about to be funded, that is huge. The settlement for Native American farmers is about to funded… that is huge. None of that matters, because apparently President Obama is giving a visual that he will try to work harder with Republicans. It doesn’t mean that he will do everyhting they say or want, just give an appearance of caring.There was a survey that show that the majority of voters want the President to work with the worthless, obstructionist Republicans. He is trying to pass as much as possible before January 1st.But that doens’t matter, let’s just get angry and filled with outrage about “appearances”.

  • kansasdem

    @ DaBomb,You said, “There was a survey that show that the majority of voters want the President to work with the worthless, obstructionist Republicans.”I guess I missed that one, can you provide a link?

  • DaBomb

    @KansasDem- Sure, I will have to look for it in my collection of links of information. I will post either today or tomorrow.

  • DaBomb

    Here are three links stating what I just said:http://tinyurl.com/2dtqsxhhttp://tinyurl.com/2d9sg9whttp://tinyurl.com/2bl74j9http://tinyurl.com/25nhtpeOne is from the Pew Research Center and the Democratic Stragetist showcased the Pew findings as well as another one. Just google it. You will find several articles and polls. I intentionally left off Rasmussen, I know they tend to skew information.

  • kansasdem

    I don’t know how many of you watch Lawrence O’Donnell’s Last Word on MSNBC but he has a segment called “The Rewrite”. Now, I don’t catch every episode, for one thing my cable provider will NOT add MSNBC to the line-up, so maybe he’s done this and I’ve not seen it.But I’d suggest this as a rewrite for Obama’s “cooperation” talking points (and I’m NO effing speech writer, but I think the point get’s across):My administration has tried repeatedly to “reach across the aisle” …. blah, blah, blah. I understand that elections have consequences …. more blah, blah. And I’ll continue to try and work with ….. blah, blah ………… as I did on ………. examples here ……….. BUT compromise is a two-way street …….. blah, blah!However, I want to make one thing perfectly clear! While our jobs/fiscal/deficit problems must be addressed I believe the pains of recovering from this crisis must be shared by ALL Americans! More blah, blah.I will not allow the burden to be placed only on the backs of our nations middle class, the elderly, and the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens … blah, blah! (It also wouldn’t hurt to talk about our two wars, service members and families sacrifice, and how no one saw a tax increase to pay for these wars).Then lay out the things he ran on: repealing the tax cuts for the wealthy, fixing Social Security by increasing the amount of income taxed, etc.And then mention things that have been blocked by the Repubs like tax credits for creating jobs, etc!

  • gescove

    @kansasdem – The visual Obama gave is not that he is willing to work with Republicans. The visual he gave is that he is unwilling to fight for principles and willing to give concessions before the negotiation even begins. It is a visual he has given us time and again. I am sick of it. Seriously, if the WH can’t win a wildly popular fight for letting tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires expire, while they still have the majority in both chambers, while everyone is wringing their hands about the OMG! deficit… what can we expect for “legislative accomplishments” in the next two years? And what is Obama’s opening salvo on this line-in-the-sand issue? He took to the bully pulpit to announce… wait for it… a bipartisan committee to discuss compromises!! Are you effing kidding me? I am SICK. OF. IT.

  • Irish Girl

    @DaBomb, gescove repeats my argument and said:”if the WH can’t win a wildly popular fight for letting tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires expire, while they still have the majority in both chambers, while everyone is wringing their hands about the OMG! deficit… what can we expect for “legislative accomplishments” in the next two years?”What about this is an “emo” argument? It’s sound logic to me.

  • kansasdem

    Fuck typewad pisses me off sometimes!I’d just gone thru the links provided by DaBomb showing that you must read past the headlines and the ether ate it!!!!!!!!!!!!Seriously read them! The first three show exactly what I’ve been saying!

  • kansasdem

    My turn to cherry pick from DaBomb’s links:”The survey indicates a partisan divide on the issue, with 94 percent of Democrats saying the GOP should cooperate with Obama and congressional Democrats, with more seven in ten independent voters agreeing. But Republicans appear divided, with 49 percent saying the two sides should try to reach common ground and 47 percent saying that GOP leaders should stick to their beliefs even if it causes political gridlock.”More later so typewad doesn’t eat my lunch!

  • DaBomb

    @IrishGirl: I have placed up 4 links with information backing up the whole idea that voters want Pres Obama and Dems to work with Republicans and vice versa. Just four, there are others.Nobody disputed that. Maybe people thought I was making stuff up. Posted the links, no response.Read the article from the Dem Strategist, goes into this concept pretty thoroughly.The tax cut fight is just beginning and we don’t know how it’s going to end, but just like HCR people start to freak out.Comments have been pretty emo… just calling them, how I see them. As I have always stated, the blogosphere doesn’t represent reality at large. Most dems support the President and this optics crap isn’t bothering them as much as it bothers people in the blogosphere. And for what to expect for legislative accomplishments, probably not much since we have a whole chamber of the legislative branch who will be wholly uncooperative. Even so when things were being accomplished(majorly) within the first two years, people within the blogosphere spouted off that nothing was being done. So in the land of DKOS, Huff n Stuff, and others in liberal land it will be just like the 1st two years, no different.

  • kansasdem

    Actually that last quote says a lot:”Republicans appear divided, with 49 percent saying the two sides should try to reach common ground and 47 percent saying that GOP leaders should stick to their beliefs even if it causes political gridlock.”Seriously now! How effing stupid and disconnected do Repub voters need to be to for 49% to think that “common ground” is possible?Never mind, it’s a rhetorical question. I’m surrounded by Republicans, they can be easily categorized into:racistwillfully misinformedetc-phobicstupidselfishAnd they all share hateful! They thrive on hate!

  • DaBomb

    @Kansasdem: Of course, I expect you to cherry pick them. And what you just typed didn’t prove your point. Just proved what I said.”A just-released Pew survey finds that 55 percent of respondents want Republican leaders in Washington to “try as best they can to work with Barack Obama to accomplish things, even if it means disappointing some groups of Republican supporters.” Only 38 percent disagreed. Conversely, 62 percent want Obama to work hard to cooperate with Republicans, even if it means disappointing some of his supporters.A recent bipartisan survey–a collaboration between Democracy Corps and Resurgent Republic–mirrors this finding and offers additional insights. By a margin of 67 to 26, the people want president Obama to work harder to find common ground with Republicans rather than simply holding fast to his own agenda. By a margin of 60 to 36, they endorsed the proposition that “Congressional Republicans should be more willing to work with President Obama to find solutions” over the contrary proposition that “Congressional Republicans should do even more to stop President Obama’s agenda because his proposals would irrevocably harm America.”Please go ahead and cherry pick this.

  • kansasdem

    From DaBomb’s second link here’s proof that a lot of independents are dumb-stupids:”Independents want the two sides to work together — 57% say GOP leaders should cooperate with Obama while about as many (59%) say that the president should work with GOP leaders.”How effing stupid or uninformed does a voter have to be to believe that the GOP will cooperate on anything?Fuck independents and whatever they rode in on!

  • Irish Girl

    @DaBomb, First, your opinion that our arguments are emo doesn’t make them so.Second, I personally have supported the President on everything he’s done up until the issue about deficit reduction. And so has Bob and other Progressive bloggers. So your blanket statement that the “blogosphere” have been bellyaching that nothing got done during the first two years is factually incorrect. Some of them have and some have not.Third, I’m not disputing or cherry picking from the links you posted. I understand those survey results. What I dispute is WHY the respondents felt the way they do. I’m saying that the majority of Americans are not well informed of the ins/outs of what’s gone on between the Pres and Republicans.Dems have failed to communicate what compromises he’s already made. If we did a better job of touting what compromises he’s already made and what he’s accomplished in spite of them, he would reach the 67% of Americans that think he should try harder to reach common ground with Republicans even if it means disappointing his supporters.Americans are saying let’s compromise because they’re ignorant of the reality. We need to educate them about the reality and do the right thing, which is stop compromising and take advantage of the votes we DO have. And if that can’t work, then do the right thing and stand up for what we believe. Again, idealism in the face of outright refusal to budge (which is the reality) is more honorable and will appear stronger to the American people.

  • DaBomb

    @Kansadem : I agree that Independents are not the sharpest pencils in the box, but they make up a large amount of the voting populace.Even some Dems want Pres Obama to work with Republicans,”Independents want the two sides to work together — 57% say GOP leaders should cooperate with Obama while about as many (59%) say that the president should work with GOP leaders. But as many Democrats say Obama should stand up to Republican leaders (43%) as say he should work with them (46%).”

  • kansasdem

    But DaBomb, show me one effing example of Repubs compromising with Obama over the past 22 months. Please!At best that proves that Republican voters are idiots.So are indies!I don’t recall if it was you or someone else but someone said 2% of voters know what’s going on (paraphrasing again). I’m not sure the number is right but a hell of a lot of people vote without knowing jack shit about the candidates positions beyond abortion, guns, taxes, etc.Most of the numbers displayed in those links display a lack of knowledge and or sanity regarding those polled. The GOP is NOT going to work with Obama on anything!

  • DaBomb

    @IrishGirl:Actually my statement about the liberal blogosphere hasn’t been factually incorrect. There have been several arguments on here about the blogosphere and how people have been incessantly whining. Fellow commenters have linked to their blogs that display Obama’s accomplishments only to have supposed progressives from around the blogoshphere state that he hasn’t done anything. FDL, Huufington Post, Daily Kos, Jack and Jill Politics, Cenk and others haven’t been all that supportive. I can keep naming ‘em.Actually Bob’s site is one of the few blogs I read on a daily basis.My emo comment is my opinion. That’s how I feel. Most of the blogs that I have mentioned up above are negative. Blackwaterdog left DailyKos because of what I stated in my previous comment about the liberal blogosphere. She has her own blog now. We are not the only ones that feel this way. KansasDem stated in his comment that he was going to cherry pick my links, so I wasn’t targeting that toward you.You can dispute how the repsondents feel, it doesn’t change their right to feel that way. It’s doesn’t mean that they’re right either. But we don’t know or understand all of the ins and outs of what’s going between the President, Dems and Republicans either. We only know what we have seen and been told.

  • kansasdem

    @ DaBomb,I’m glad you’re a devoted Democrat and I appreciate you opinion. The best thing about a Democratic circular firing squad is that we can usually emerge blood free and still friends ;^)At least I hope that’s the case?Regardless I have to post this from your third link:”This result comes from The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll, which found that 44 percent of likely voters say the Democratic Party is more dominated by its extreme elements, whereas 37 percent say it’s the Republican Party that is more dominated by extremists.”That’s the stupidest shit I’ve ever seen! Has everyone heard of Third Way:”“That’s real trouble for Democrats,” said Jim Kessler, co-founder of the Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank.“All the press coverage has been about how these Tea Party candidates are fringe ideologues, and there have been high-profile examples of them proving the point,” he added. “Yet, still at this moment, you have independents saying, ‘I think the Democrats are a little more extreme than the Republicans.’ “That’s not a crazy train I’m willing to ride!

  • DaBomb

    @KansasDem: I can’t show you anything about Republicans working with him. They haven’t. My whole point, is that we only represent 2% of the voting populace. Majority of voters want Obama to be bipartisan. That’s it.It was probably me who said that about the 2%. I got that information from one of my old media contacts.I worked in broadcast media for about 10 years. I am not proud that I worked for them. They have some of the best benefits in the industry and believe it or not they are big about diversity. But there is a big problem with even pushing the President’s accomplishments. I still talk to a friend of mine who is a producer for a national morning news show and during their meetings, positive stories about the President are ignored. Negative ones are pushed.

  • Irish Girl

    @DaBomb Your statements are duly noted and appreciated.And while I agree we only know what we’ve seen and been told, and that certainly isn’t everything. And in most circumstances, I give the Pres my support because that lack of knowledge on my part is “reasonable doubt” enough.However,I can guarantee that the folks in that survey are not like you and me. They don’t read the blogs daily and keep up on the ins and outs. People like us have a much better understanding of what is probably reality. So my conclusion still stands….that they’re answering the survey based on ignorance and we have to do a better job of educating them about what compromises we have made.

  • Irish Girl

    @kansasdem The public, not us “two percenters” that are politically aware, hear only negative stories about the Pres (see DaBombs anecdotal evidence above and our experience with MSM in general). Also, too many people watch Fox or listen to talk radio which all about how extreme the left is. Of course, they think that. It only proves my point that we need to speak more often, in reasonable ways, about what we’ve done and why we’re not as extreme through the communication channels we can control.

  • http://weeseeyou.com DaBomb

    @KansasDem: I appreciate your opinions too. I just get frustated by the negativity and lash out.And you can never truly get your feeling out in a way that is it understood appropriately in a comments section.I have been a lifelong democrat. My family are all democrats. My dad was a member of the Civil Rights Movement here locally. He and his brothers started a taxi cab business. They were one of the first African American owned taxi cab businesses in our area. This was their way of showing that African Americans wanted to have equal access to things and also that we had goals too on a local level.I say all of this because if we want to inform people that our policies are better, than we will need to get more people like us in political office locally. I was happy to vote in the first openly gay mayor(who’s white) with two adopted black kids to our city. And I defend her every step of the way. Just as my dad was happy to vote in the first black mayor for our city. It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and chunk spitballs. We are all guilty of doing it. But we have to stay unified and fight against the garbage, and I am trying on my end to get my friend who has a cush producer job to do the same thing. I am going to keep my head up and keep fighting the good fight. It’s in my blood, it’s what I know.

  • kansasdem

    Hey, I want to thank everyone here. While I’m definitely in Irish Girls camp on this issue I truly do respect DaBombs opinion.I just know that Repubs have NO intention of compromising on anything!

  • Lexaburn

    As far as I’m concerned, President Obama came in wanting to find common ground with the opposition, and he will leave wanting to do the same thing.Take from that what you will.

  • Maria Ellicott

    Ugh, I can’t wait for Sarah Palin to become president. Then all of this whining will make some sense.

  • CaliCat

    Does the left really think that if Obama acts all swaggery and demanding the Republicans will melt into submission? The only choice the President has is to grease the wheel as much as possible to get it to roll. The presumption by the left that everthing Obama does or doesn’t do stems from weakness has gotten old and ugly. Obama is not LBJ, nor do I want him to be. If LBJ had faced this kind of opposition, he may have resigned. The poise and quiet resolve the President continues to display in light of all the obstacles he faces shows great strength of character, not weakness.

  • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ Nicole473

    calicat:”"The poise and quiet resolve the President continues to display in light of all the obstacles he faces shows great strength of character, not weakness. “”Very good point, and I believe it’s true.I think that today was just a really bad day. I know it was for me, and I am so sick of the bloody bastard republicans, i feel like lashing out.A really good article which might cheer some here up.http://www.politicususa.com/en/foreign-sarah-palin-traitor/

  • CaliCat

    Thanks Nicole. I read your letter to the President and it’s very good. I hope he reads it. It would be very satisfying on a gut level to see the President suddenly say “eff off Republicans” and stop giving them a seat at the table…but I just don’t see how that approach ends up gaining anything in the way of legislation. In other words, Obama is screwed no matter what he does. If he stays loose though, imo, there’s at least a chance for him to make some incremental gains.

  • CaliCat

    Oh, and thanks for that Politicususa link, Nicole. That article is amazing. The world looks at us and wonders what the hell? Our media will not report the truth because they’re owned by the right – the very people who use Palin to help further their cause. How demented is that?