You've made a deal? Don't expect praise

[Viva_La_Revolution]

By
Bob Schieffer

I am glad that Washington found a way to avoid shutting down the government, but excuse me for not applauding.

When we are involved in three wars, the country is in a recession and people are out of work, you don't have to be too smart to know this is not a good time to shut down the government, and figuring that out is no reason to offer congratulations.

I hate to paint all of them with the same brush. There are some fine and serious people in Congress and in the White House, too, for that matter. But Washington has become more than dysfunctional. Its inability to act has become disgraceful.

If Washington had been willing to meet its responsibilities, the two sides would have resolved this last year. Last week's argument was last year's or it should have been

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/10/ftn/main20052568.shtml#ixzz1J8vxTMSg

[tularetom]

1. I hate it when I agree with a dork like Bob Schieffer

And the old "both sides are equally guilty" bullshit.

But in this case, I'd go a step further. The Democrats are more guilty.

Of course the republicans are going to propose all sorts of batshit crazy ways to take money from the middle class and give it to the very wealthy. That's in their DNA. But Democrats aren't supposed to be enablers for this kind of nasty behavior. They are supposed to stand up for those who lack the money, and therefore the voice, to oppose republican greed and meanness.

Obama and congressional Dems are doing the job that moderate republicans are supposed to do - keeping the lunatic fringe from dragging the entire country over the cliff. But they are doing this by giving into more and more of their crazy demands each time some kind of potential confrontation arises.

Remember how people used to say Clinton was the best republican president in recent years? I think they might get an argument these days.

[Citizen Worker]

2. " But Democrats aren't supposed to be enablers for this kind of nasty behavior. They are supposed to

stand up for those who lack the money..." That's exactly who they're standing up for. They need the money to retain their cushy, well paid government jobs with a lucrative retirement and fully funded taxpayer health care. That's who they're standing up for, themselves.

[pa28]

3. Why is it always "both sides".

The administration accommodated the Republicans at every turn while Boehner and the tea party would just move the goalposts when their demands were met.

"Both sides" is the accepted format for an opinion piece if you must criticize Republicans but Bob Schieffer is supposed to be America's senior journalist. Instead of telling the real story he's letting the guilty go unpunished by trying to spread the blame around.

[Fearless]

4. Obama appeases the GOP and they demand more. +1

[yurbud]

5. Just once I'd like to see Obama use his grassroot mojo to hold to the GOP's feet to the fire

He didn't really even get the job done in the 2010 election.

[Fearless]

6. Well giving the GOP the House is a form of "compromise"

:rofl: :nuke:

[yurbud]

7. no shit. What's weird is he governed like they controlled one of chambers when they had neither

Kind of the opposite of Bush who ''won'' on a technicality and acted like he had a mandate (not the one with Jeff Gannon) to act like a dictator.

Obama had a real mandate and he could have put real pressure on the amoral corporate Dems and even the GOP with the public behind him and he chose not to do so.