5. I admire the GOP for having spines, for once. It's a fake shutdown, but it may lead to better policy.
4. They aren't doing anything illegal. All the hand-wringing is about collective action. But the incentives are not collective for Congress; they are individual. Democrats do not understand (or choose not to understand) that a GOP legislator will face loads more wrath from within his party for folding to Dems than any noise the Dems or media could generate, and they have more to lose long-term than you hope to gain from the "bad optics."
3. Boehner is going to eat Obama for lunch, eventually. They'll do a deal, Obama will look good short-term, and then actual policy will reflect Republican priorities.
2. Obama is a unique and very powerful symbol, but he's a second-rate tactician and legislator. They have finally figured this out.
1. I love America, and our politics. I really do. Acrimony is bad; gridlock, however, is not. Our system was designed this way!
4. They aren't doing anything illegal. All the hand-wringing is about collective action. But the incentives are not collective for Congress; they are individual. Democrats do not understand (or choose not to understand) that a GOP legislator will face loads more wrath from within his party for folding to Dems than any noise the Dems or media could generate, and they have more to lose long-term than you hope to gain from the "bad optics."
3. Boehner is going to eat Obama for lunch, eventually. They'll do a deal, Obama will look good short-term, and then actual policy will reflect Republican priorities.
2. Obama is a unique and very powerful symbol, but he's a second-rate tactician and legislator. They have finally figured this out.
1. I love America, and our politics. I really do. Acrimony is bad; gridlock, however, is not. Our system was designed this way!
Comments