tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post1550078439500702993..comments2023-12-22T15:54:02.289-08:00Comments on Consider The Source: Burn the Boatsmikeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-6645663247102147242013-01-14T08:24:37.373-08:002013-01-14T08:24:37.373-08:00Obama is certainly not stupid. He made a the Repu...Obama is certainly not stupid. He made a the Republicans an offer in negotiations that he (and pretty much everybody else) KNEW they wouldn't accept. What's interesting here is you want to use his BEST negotiation strategies as evidence that he WANTS to accomplish the same things they do. But you can't figure out how to address the obvious fact that if he actually DID want to, say, cut social security and medicare, he could do it anytime he wants with the willing help of the Republicans and the Democratic so-called "deficit hawks". It would be MUCH easier to pass that legislation than to fight it, so you like to claim that his fighting it is evidence that he WANTS it. Obviously, I have trouble with that "logic". <br /><br />The easiest thing in the world in this legislative environment would be to cut spending on social insurance programs. And yet, there have been no cuts (other than provider payments, which should be cut further). Occam's atomic bomb...mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-28939345693992795782013-01-14T07:19:14.332-08:002013-01-14T07:19:14.332-08:00The problem with your theory is that the evidence ...<i>The problem with your theory is that the evidence doesn't support it.</i><br /><br />So what's your theory?<br /><br /><i>But it also smacks of another case of unilateral disarmament, setting the stage for another epic Obama capitulation. </i><br /><br />1) Charlie Brown can't figure out that Lucy will always take the ball away just as he tries to kick it.<br /><br />2) Charlie Brown has a defective negotiation gene.<br /><br />3) Charlie Brown doesn't want to kick the football, but he wants us to think he does. (My theory.)<br /><br />1) Obama is a Harvard grad. I don't think he's stupid.<br /><br />2) I'd have to see evidence that such a gene exists. Besides, the people he hires provide us with clues. For instance, do you think his first Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is a naive idealist? He's filled his Administration with <a href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/01/philip-pilkington-the-origins-of-neoliberalism-part-iii-europe-and-the-centre-left-fall-under-hayeks-spell.html" rel="nofollow">cynical neoliberals</a>, but we're supposed to imagine that he's something else entirely?<br /><br />3) O.K. via BDR, I see another blog post making <a href="http://americablog.com/2013/01/how-obama-used-biden-to-undercut-reid-on-fiscal-cliff-deal.html" rel="nofollow">almost the same points</a>. It's Occam's Switchblade.<br />~<br />ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-48136947749753515952013-01-13T13:04:49.592-08:002013-01-13T13:04:49.592-08:00I would suggest that if Obama's goal was to pa...I would suggest that if Obama's goal was to pass cuts to entitlement and social spending programs, the debt ceiling would represent a perfect opportunity for him. He would merely say "gosh, I'm sorry, but those mean Republicans are threatening to burn down the economy, I have no choice but to give in to their demands" and no one would blame him for it. The fact that he's fighting, even at great risk, to resist these demands calls your conclusion into question...mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-72359246060943989572013-01-13T12:58:36.144-08:002013-01-13T12:58:36.144-08:00The problem with your theory is that the evidence ...The problem with your theory is that the evidence doesn't support it. He is not a liberal by any stretch of the imagination, but he actually supports a lot of plutocrat UNfriendly legislation, from universal health coverage to the CFPB to immigration reform to federal unemployment extensions (twice)...mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8537045684820674531.post-24349391889684616842013-01-13T11:28:01.650-08:002013-01-13T11:28:01.650-08:00As you say, we shall see. I'm no more optimist...As you say, we shall see. I'm no more optimistic than you are.<br /><br />I think we disagree on what's been happening.<br /><br />You say the President is a weak negotiator, and I say he is getting the plutocrat-friendly agenda he wants while using the Republicans for cover. <br /><br />(<a href="http://ifthethunderdontgetya.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-petition-for-white-house.html" rel="nofollow">My White House petition from 2011</a>.)<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.com