Extortion politics: a new form of governing

[jefferson_dem]

Extortion politics: a new form of governing
By Steve Benen

Josh Marshall made an interesting point in passing yesterday, asking whether conservative Republicans could achieve massive spending cuts through “old-fashioned majority votes.” Josh answered his own question: “Of course not.” The cuts on the table were only made possible by Republicans “threatening the health” of the United States.

I think this arguably one of the more important realizations to take away from the current political landscape. Republicans aren’t just radicalized, aren’t just pursuing an extreme agenda, and aren’t just allergic to compromise. The congressional GOP is also changing the very nature of governing in ways with no modern precedent.

Welcome to the normalization of extortion politics.

Consider, for example, the Republican decision to reject any and all nominees to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, regardless of merit, unless and until Democrats accepted changes to the agency’s structure. Traditionally, if the GOP wanted to alter the powers of the CFPB, it would write legislation, send it committee, bring it to the floor, send it to the other chamber, etc. But that takes time and effort, and in a divided government, this “old fashioned” approach to policymaking probably wouldn’t produce the desired result.

Instead, we see the latest in a series of extortion strategies: Republicans will force Democrats to accept changes to the agency, or Republicans won’t allow the agency to function. Jonathan Cohn wrote a good piece on this a couple of weeks ago, noting the frequency with which this strategy is utilized.

<SNIP>

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_07/extortion_politics_a_new_form031209.php

[Armstead]

1. They get away with it because Obama and the conservative Demiocrats do not stand firm

[treestar]

7. What would standing firm consist of here?

Give us tax increases on the rich or we default? Give us no cuts or we default?

And make it more than just use of bully pulpit, which would simply be labeled "hot air."

[Bluenorthwest]

2. The bipartisan theory of Obama's has been show to be without

merit, it delivers the opposite of what we want, it delivers what the Republicans want. I hope he is honest enough to look at his own failures and adjust his faith based politics accordingly. I mean, he did vote with the GOP on Teri Schaivo and for all of Bush's war money requests, and he says he regrets those votes. He at least gives lip service to mistakes he's made, perhaps he will see the error in declaring criminals to be honest brokers. They guy who tells me to trust a crook is not much better liked than the crook. When they both hold prejudiced views toward my community, I start seeing them as being very much the same.

[high density]

3. The same thing happened in December

It was tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts, and without a whiff of talk about deficit or debt. Obama was forced into extending them so that the unemployed could be thrown a bone.

[Dad Infinitum]

4. There is definately a pattern

Republicans hold something hostage....like unemployment benefits, or the debt ceiling. They make a stand on that issue, then the extremists in their party start pushing their demands further and further right. When the RW demands get so loony they teeter on the precipice of sanity, Democrats adopt the original GOP position and call it 'compromise' and the GOP get 75% - 90% of what they originally demanded and the Democrats get a few token scraps.

Nobody calls their bluff.

[lonestarlib]

5. Matthew Yglesias' quote from Think Progress:

the fallout from this deal may extend far beyond the plan itself:
t this point the biggest damage is to the overall system of government. Obama has successfully transformed massive debt ceiling hostage taking from an act of breathtakingly irresponsible brinksmanship into a proven effective negotiating tactic. Suppose he gets re-elected in 2012. What’s he going to do when this issue recurs in 2013? Every time the president’s party has fewer than 60 votes in the Senate, we may face a recurrence of this crisis

[treestar]

6. Read somewhere else here today

That it is because average voters don't vote in the primaries, resulting in the hard core on each side picking candidates.

Though that has always been the case.

The only way is to defeat Republicans. Make them the minority.