Lessons in how NOT to negotiate, courtesy of your President.

[Bluebear]

by Joe Sudbay

For a couple of weeks, I've been hearing that White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley called Speaker John Boehner and offered to give the GOPers the cuts they wanted on the 2011 budget. Sam Stein heard something similar:

A party operative, plugged into the discussions, made it clear that there were disagreements over the chief of staff's negotiating tactics.

"He is choosing to appease Republicans over fighting for Democratic principles," the operative said, pointing to a post put together by the Obama-allied Center for American Progress, arguing that $32 billion in cuts is "not much of a compromise if we end up with what the House Republican leadership wanted in the first place."

I wish this was wrong. But, it's not.

Today, I listened to Obama's remarks during the press briefing. He basically confirmed it...

MORE:

http://www.americablog.com/2011/04/lessons-in-how-not-to-negotiate.html

[ThomCat]

1. So his CoS is just as weak and cowardly a negotiator as he is?

Damn. x(

Is is a rule that you have to want the republicans to succeed to work in this administration? :grr:

[Lorien]

2. Apparently yes. nt

[ConservativeDemocrat]

3. It's exactly how to negotiate in this situation

This battle is all about who the public blames for shutting down the government.
Right now, they're split 50/50.

Unbelievable? No. If the public actually paid attention, modern day Republicans wouldn't be voted in as dogcatcher.

The GOP will try to blame President Obama. They already are.
President Obama will say, as he did, "I gave them what they asked for, and they still shut it down."

That message will reverberate. And the public won't be happy with the GOP at all.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[Bluebear]

4. Yay, conservative democrats, the only "reality based" people.

Whatever.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bluebear]

6. /ignore

[JDPriestly]

7. Nonsense. This budget fight is about how long poor people get to live.

This budget fight is about cutting medical benefits and Social Security for elderly and poor people.

It's also about allowing our air quality, water and other basic necessities to become so polluted that our life expectancy drops.

It is also about giving even bigger tax cuts to the super rich.

But above everything else, this budget fight is about keeping Democrats hoodwinked into thinking that Obama is actually working for them and not for Wall Street.

The ugly fact is that Obama is working for Wall Street.

[Raine]

8. As long Obama comes out smelling like a rose with his statement already to go

that's all that matters, never mind that people get hurt. :sarcasm: It's all fun and games to politicians, it's sickening. x(

[dennis4868]

11. Exactly!

Obama is playing this out like he is above all this and the only adult in the room...

[ThomCat]

12. Budge battles are about funding programs, and people's lives.

If you really, honestly think that this is only, or even mostly about who is going to get blame then your priorities are really f*cked-up.

That would mean you are willing to let millions of people suffer and die just on the off chance that republicans might get blamed for something for a few days in the media.

:wtf:

[dionysus]

15. "That would mean you are willing to let millions of people suffer and die just on the off chance

republicans might get blamed for something for a few days in the media."

funny, the same people saying that now said the exact opposite when the GOP was holding unemployment benefits hostage with the tax bill.

THEN, it was preferrable to let unemployed suffer to make the GOP look callous.

NOW, it's all about the human suffering.

what a terrific double standard we have here.
:rofl:

[ThomCat]

16. Um.. Wrong.

Nobody sane ever said that it was best to let the unemployed suffer for any reason.

If there is a double standard, it's only in your own head.

[upi402]

9. folksy 101: "We're all gonna havta take a haircut"

Bullshit. Rich get their ass kissed and we get ours kicked again.

Here's the deep dark dirty secret in just 45 minutes viewing;
http://www.leftunderground.com/threads/63-chris-hedges-death-of-the-liberal-class

[Raine]

10. It's more of a "scalping" in Ed Shultz's words. nt

[upi402]

14. LOL -Leave it to Ed

Folksy post-graduate style! The master has spoken.
:kick:

[Dappleganger]

13. More pragmatist bullshit.