Krugman: WH tells him that it is absolutely, positively not going to cave

[cthulu2016]

I get calls. The White House insists that it is absolutely, positively not going to cave or indeed even negotiate over the debt ceiling — that it rejected the coin option as a gesture of strength, as a way to put the onus for avoiding default entirely on the GOP.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/by-george/

[Angry Dragon]

1. it is up to the boner to come up with a bill

let's see if he can do his job between his drinking

[DJ13]

2. And he believes them?

[dsc]

5. He said that he believes they believe it but he will wait and see

[DJ13]

6. Lets hope they do

I still think they should not have given up on the coin idea, even if they had no plans of doing it.

The WH has a bad habit of giving up on any leverage they might have against the GOP ahead of negotiations.

They've done that far too often.

[truebluegreen]

10. Yes, why tip your hand in advance?

It's more bargaining with yourself and they HAVE done it far too often.

[Stuart G]

3. Do you think the WH will cave?..

Me...not this time..but that is me..

[forestpath]

7. No. Because caving means giving in. And we already know that

Obama wants to cut Social Security. So if he puts that on the table again, it isn't caving because it's something he already wants to do.

[Myrina]

11. +100

n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

16. Ah, but

the cheerleaders have assured us that there's no chance of this.

[elias7]

18. This is what's wrong with DU now

This kind of snarky sarcastic comment is cyber bullying, whether you wish to admit it or not. Can't find many threads anymore without this kind of crap.

[cthulu2016]

13. I think the WH will be resolute on the debt ceiling and cave on the budget itself

I believe that Obama thinks there is a real principle involved with debt ceiling terrorism.

[dawg]

14. You may be right.

The debt ceiling is not the real battle. The expiration of the continuing resolution is when everything will be decided.

[bluestateguy]

4. Krug has a pretty low definition of what constitutes caving

As in, if you don't get 100% of what you asked for, then you "caved".

The so-called fiscal cliff deal was by all accounts a win for Obama and the progressives (most Progressive caucus members voted for it in the House, as well as Bernie Sanders). Our side got most of what we wanted, the other side only got a little. But Krug called it a "cave".

[dawg]

15. I don't recall PK calling the final cliff deal a cave.

Perhaps you have a link to that?

[TheKentuckian]

8. They don't cave, they do as they intend.

"Caving" assumes an intent that doesn't exist.

[bvar22]

9. Cave?... NO. They will just call it something else.

"We couldn't let the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good."

"Sensible Americans will see this as a Step in the Right Direction."

"We saved our Children from the crushing burden of The Deficit."

"We protected Social Security."

"You don't understand how government works."

"Obama now looks like the sensible one."

"Nobody got what they wanted...so that makes it a Good Deal."

"Compromise is the foundation of democracy."

"This wasn't a "cave". It was a HUGE VICTORY. Add it to The List."

"It was ALL Joe Lieberman's fault."

[humbled_opinion]

12. I am glad that the President is taking a principled stand...

but the way the teaheads where I work are framing this is that the continuing resolutions of the 2009 budget are unsustainable. They claim that the extraordinary spending levels put in the 2009 budget were only meant for that year to combat the recession and should have been rebalanced after 2009 but that the Sentate has not taken up a real budget since 2009.

I wonder where the truth really is on this because it does seem that popular opinion is of the position that there is a serious deficit and debt problem in the country and something must be done.

Don't people on our side think that this is really an opportunity to discuss real reforms that would bring in the revenue needed to combat the debt, in other words take the options of cutting federal programs directly off the table by fixing any real or perceived issues with the sustainability of spending levels and the sustainability of programs like S.S. by offerring real solutions like these:

VAT (could be as low as 3 percent, value added tax on everything except food)

Wealth Luxury tax with a 25 percent surcharge on top of VAT for all single item purchases over 50K property exemption to 250K.

Banking Transaction tax. (could be less than a penny per)

Wall Street trading transaction tax. (cold be less than a penny per)

Firearms ownership annual tax (doesn't need to be severe but needed to establish revenue for safeguards on schools)

Ammunition (surcharge tax on materials or ammo)

These options will eliminate the deficit immediatley on implementation and cause a massive surplus that will bring the national debt down massively over a very short period of time.

These options could be tried on a temporary basis with the President out front leading the charge with a JFK like call for ...."asking what we can do for our country.... "

[JoePhilly]

17. Do the idiots who claimed Obama was going to CAVE in the fiscal cliff deal

have short term memory issues?

I'm betting yes.

[Kablooie]

19. I hope so but I've heard that many, many times before.

Sorry I don't have faith.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me 33 times, shame on you, fool me 34 times, shame on me.