Obama's Obsession With Compromise Has Compromised His Presidency

[babsbunny]

Obama's Obsession With Compromise Has Compromised His Presidency

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12890

MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

UPDATE: Since this commentary was written in the early afternoon of July 27th, Think Progress has confirmed that President Obama was negotiating a gradual increase of the eligibility age for Medicare to 67. As Think Progress reported:

Jacob Hacker, political science professor at Yale University, has called the scheme "the single worst idea for Medicare reform" since it "saves Medicare money only by shifting the cost burden onto older Americans caught between the old eligibility age and the new, as well as onto the employers and states that help fund their benefits." Worse still, some seniors between the ages of 65 and 67 could "end up uninsured," the Center on Budget And Policy Priorities' Edwin Park predicted. Individuals "with incomes too high for premium subsidies in the exchange and those who qualify for only modest subsidies" could be priced out of affordable coverage, he warned.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, raising the eligibility age to 67 would cause an estimated net increase of $5.6 billion in out-of-pocket health insurance costs for beneficiaries who would have been otherwise covered by Medicare. Seniors in Medicare Part B would also face a 3 percent premium increase, the study found, since younger and healthier enrollees would be routed out of Medicare and into private insurance. Beneficiaries in health care reform's exchanges would see a similar spike in premiums with the addition of the older population. Federal cost savings, meanwhile, would be slim.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. Yep. I wanted him to stand up against the a-holes. nt

[Myrina]

2. What would his grandparents - and his mother - think?

How disappointed they'd be. Sigh.

[WinkyDink]

15. Notice his book title vs. the relatives you mention? Yeah, that.

[treestar]

3. What is the obsession with never compromising?

Especially when the other side has leverage?

Politics does not work like this.

[msongs]

6. ummm compromise is when BOTH sides gets much of what they want. surrender is not compromise nt

[treestar]

30. We would be getting a raise in the debt ceiling?

Really, do you suppose there would be anything but utter chaos if everyone stood on every principle.

Get Democrats elected to Congress next year so this does not have to happen. Or as badly (even Democrats don't get you all you want).

It's not a simple two sided thing, like a marriage or bargaining for something at a bazaar.

[Marr]

32. You're talking about making profound concessions to the right wing,

in both policy and rhetoric, in exchange for a basic piece of non-partisan legislative housekeeping. It's like trading the cow for magic beans. That's lopsided to the point of absurdity, and it's exactly the same play Obama made in extending the Bush Tax Cuts.

This isn't negotiation, it's a politician using political cover to push right-wing economic policies.

[sabrina 1]

7. You just contradicted yourself.

You just said that NOT compromising works. That is HOW the other side has 'leverage'. They refuse to compromise and they have succeeded in forcing this president to attack the Social Net Programs just as they intended.

Who says being UNCOMPROMISING does not work? Politics DOES work like this so stop with the excuses please. People just don't want to hear them anymore. This is about LIVES, not politics or politicians or which team wins. Have you been talking to people in the real world lately? They GET IT, what is going on, and they don't care anymore about 'dem' 'repub'. They want the PEOPLE to win because if they don't, many of them will DIE!

So sick of this 'compromise' bs, truly. We've been way too patient with this, that was OUR compromise, and now we see where that got us! Unbelievable to see any cuts to these programs being excused on a Dem board! Seriously.

[treestar]

29. So then don't complain of the default results

that is what you are asking for here.

If both sides were uncompromising, we'd have nothing. Being Democrats, who want the government to do things, it does gives Rs leverage - they don't care if the government is not working, they want the government out.

[WinkyDink]

16. 1. Phony issue. 2. "Temporary" Bush tax cuts? 3. SS solvent. Next question?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Wait! The believers will be here momentarily to say how powerless he is. Poor guy.

He's just a delicate flower held captive by the Republicans and forced to do their bidding.

Or, he could be introduced to the veto pen and instructed on it's use.

[katnapped]

8. You purists and your friggin ponies!

Keep it up and I'll whip out the list of achievements! I mean it!!!!!!

:sarcasm:

[bvar22]

22. Yeah.

I remember when Joe Lieberman beat him up
and ruined his Health Care Bill.
Joe Lieberman is SUCH a Big Bully.
It was HORRIBLE.
There was nothing he could do! :cry:

[mzmolly]

5. The Constitution

has an obsession with compromise. Unfortunately, at times, there is no choice.

[EFerrari]

9. No, the Constitution doesn't say you have to embrace Republican economic theology.

False.

[TheKentuckian]

10. No shit!

[mzmolly]

12. The checks and balances only count,

when Democrats are the opposition party?

[mzmolly]

11. That's not what the article says

either. And, that's not what the President has done. Unless you consider the Consumer Protection Bureau and Wall Street Reform., Republican regulatory dreams?

[EFerrari]

13. Obama accepts and catapults their framing.

It's not a compromise if there aren't really two sides, is it?

And the Financial Consumer Protection Bureau is a JOKE to the hundreds of thousands of families dealing with illegal foreclosures that Obama has refused to help.

And Wall Street Reform? Please.

[mzmolly]

14. That's another inaccurate FDL talking point.

FYI - I received help via HAMP, as did my Republican sister in law. This in spite of the banks trying their best not to cooperate.

Republicans do not/did not support foreclosure prevention programs. They did not support the auto industry remaining solvent. They did not support stimulus monies for creating jobs. They did not support extending unemployment benefits. They did not support tax cuts expiring on the wealthy and refused to extend tax cuts for the rest of the populace (and unemployment benefits) unless Obama agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts. Thankfully the President refused to make the tax cuts permanent.

Of course there is more evidence of obstruction given R's vote no on every thing the President tries to accomplish.

Elizabeth Warren doesn't think the CPB is a joke. It's a shame that you do.

[WinkyDink]

17. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE TIMES.

[mzmolly]

18. So having Repulicans and the Tea Party rule the house doesn't

have an impact on passing legislation?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

20. +1,000,000! Of course it does, and thank you for reasoned response.

I'm still baffled by the fact that people are obsessed with the notion that Obama could be more liberal with a Teabagger House and a Blue Dog-dominated Senate.

Why do they think that if they "punish" him by putting MORE Republicans and Teabaggers in the House, the end result will be liberal policies?

It still doesn't make sense.

Proudly unrecommending for the refusal to face reality.

[mzmolly]

24. Thanks

LS. :hi:

"Why do they think that if they "punish" him by putting MORE Republicans and Teabaggers in the House, the end result will be liberal policies?"

I too, have no idea how this logic works. ;)

[sendero]

21. And yet Bush..

.. compromised NONE AT ALL.

[mzmolly]

23. He didn't have to. He had a cultish majority in both

houses for nearly two terms.

[sendero]

25. LOL

... no, he had the power of leadership. He knew when to stand tough, and Obama thinks no time is right to stand tough.

He's got another opportunity to do so right now, lets see how he plays it. I'm betting he folds like a paper napkin AGAIN. But even if he does, people like you will make a zillion excuses for it. It's beyond laughable.

[mzmolly]

26. Oh please. It's easy to rule when you have a cult following

in the majority of both houses.

[seafan]

19. Yep.

The awful reality.


July 27, 2011

.....

This is where his emphasis on "compromise" may have compromised his presidency. The Republicans, in general, value strength in politics over concession. They tend to look at a man who is frequently backing away from his positions, whatever his lofty rhetoric, as weak and as someone who can be pushed around.

The intangible in all this is that, while most Americans want the "gridlock to break in DC," it hasn't broken. Despite polling that shows Obama is perceived a bit better on the debt ceiling issue than the Republicans, he is starting to lose advance polls against some GOP candidates for the next election.

What Obama may not understand is that most Americans want strong leadership standing up to bullies and thugs, as Gary Cooper did as the sheriff in "High Noon" (popular culture drives our image making, after all). They didn't elect a mediator in 2008; they elected a leader who would break the DC logjam not by showing weakness, but by showing resolve and an ability to forcefully exercise the power of the presidency.

Republican political leaders are jackals at sensing weakness in opponents. In the end, President Obama's insistence on pleading with the GOP to accept legislation that is similar to what they originally proposed as a first-step debt reduction target is a sign of a failed strategy and risk aversion, not strength.

Report: Obama And Boehner Agreed To Raise Medicare Eligibilty Age --to 67-- Before Debt Talks Broke Down, ThinkProgress, July 27, 2011


The primal screams in the background are louder now.

[Mimosa]

27. Might Obama be turning from compromise? n/t

[sybylla]

28. You don't compromise with crazy

when there are alternatives (14th amendment, etc.) I don't care if their finger is the only thing keeping a grenade from going off.

I value compromise. I think it has its place. But I agree here; this will end his career if he's not careful.

[Blue Owl]

31. And you don't compromise with CRIMINAL

Stealing is still a crime, last time I checked. And the GOP is trying to steal money that people paid to SS.