So says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
via The Hill
“We are not going to have a grand bargain in the near future,” he said.
Instead, he suggested negotiators should focus on a replacement for sequestration and forget “happy talk” about a grand bargain. [...]
Reid told KNPR that he regretted concessions made to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in talks in 2011 and 2012.
I don’t necessarily agree that Democrats were “too lenient” in the past. You could say they were too gracious or willing to negotiate, but circumstances change, and what was appropriate several years ago may no longer be appropriate.
The deficit is rarely mentioned now because we’ve already dealt with it.
When Republicans don’t have the deficit to talk about, they’re left to their own devices.
Making sacrifices in the past robbed the Republican party of one of their favorite talking points. One of the few talking points they have that can’t be almost directly attributed to bigotry.
Democrats hold a stronger position now than they have in years because of those sacrifices.