One senior Senate Democratic aide said that averting a default was a victory of sorts for Obama, “but when you look at the emerging details, spending cuts and triggers with no revenue, the president got rolled.”
Some Democrats, too, turned Sunday to questioning Obama’s negotiating skills — asking if he could have avoided the current crisis altogether and maintained a stronger political position. I suppose that suggests the Pubs stood their ground and called his bluff.
Obama could have accepted earlier GOP plans that included additional tax revenue — including one that he was negotiating with Boehner. The speaker, who seemed willing to allow $800 billion in additional revenue, walked out of the talks when Obama asked for more.
Mis-played that hand, didn't he.
The deal to trim the federal deficit by more than $2 trillion and increase the government’s borrowing limit contains no guarantee that tax increases will be part of the equation. Obama’s big compromise on the debt-ceiling deal was agreeing to a “trigger” forcing across-the-board spending cuts — including to Medicare and defense — should the committee process not work.
After weeks
Liberals were furious as the terms of the agreement came into focus Sunday, and yet another capitulation by Obama on economic policy threatened to further dampen enthusiasm among the core Democratic voters he will need to win reelection next year.
Yet another capitulation? If he has given up so many times, why aren't we swimming in prosperity?
But for a White House eager to improve its standing with centrist independents who have been fleeing Obama, even a losing deal can be a winning strategy. “Over the next few months, I’ll continue to make a detailed case to these lawmakers about why I believe a balanced approach is necessary to finish the job,” the president said Sunday.
Even an apparent capitulation by Obama helps present him to voters as a reasonable compromiser doing battle against rigid ideologues, his aides say. “In the short term, everyone suffers politically,” Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said in a recent interview. “In the long term, I think the Republicans have done terrible damage to their brand. Because now they’re thoroughly defined by their most strident voices.”
Sorta like Nancy Pelosi as Speaker?
Obama and his aides insisted Sunday that the president has not given up his fight on taxes. The creation in the agreement of a bipartisan committee that will recommend the bulk of the deficit reduction later this year gives the president more chances to apply public pressure for tax increases on the wealthy.
Isn't the public tired of that tune?
