President Barack Obama rolled into the Capitol with a clear message for Republicans this afternoon: He's happy to talk, but he's not compromising on tax cuts. Obama was ready for the House Republicans to pounce, telling them: "Feel free to whack me over the head because I probably will not compromise on that part (tax cuts)," according to two sources in the room. One conservative House Republican who attended the hour-long closed door session was asked if Obama was winning any votes: "Nope. He said he won't compromise on more tax cuts."
That was great news - finally, President Obama was acting like the winner of the 2008 election, standing up against tax cut policies that we know do not create the kind of job growth and GDP expansion that infrastructure spending creates. Except, now we get this from AP:
On the eve of a key vote, President Barack Obama privately promised Republicans he stands ready to accept changes in the $825 billion economic stimulus legislation...Republicans who attended the sessions said the president did not agree to any specific changes but did pledge to have his aides consider some that GOP lawmakers raised dealing with additional tax relief for businesses...One Republican senator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the president pledged to Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., to have aides review two specific proposals. One would affect businesses that pay down their debt. The other would provide a temporary tax holiday for companies that have money overseas and bring it back to the United States to invest.
Let me reiterate a really fundamental point here. I'm going to put it in all caps, in bold and in italics because its so friggin' fundamental: HOUSE REPUBLICANS, BECAUSE THEY CANNOT FILIBUSTER, ARE THE MOST POLITICALLY IRRELEVANT GROUP OF PEOPLE IN ALL OF AMERICAN POLITICS.
They have not a single shred of legislative power to stop, amend or reform an economic stimulus package, unless Obama gives it to them by giving them attention. Why Obama would spend time meeting with them is inexplicable. Why, if AP is right, he would consider loading down the economic recovery package with their wholly discredited tax cuts is beyond inexplicable - it's ludicrous. And remember another point I'm going to put in bold face and italics: NOBODY HAS MADE ANY SUBSTANTIVE CASE THAT ANY TAX CUTS THE REPUBLICANS ARE PUSHING ARE BETTER FOR JOB CREATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH THAN PUTTING THE MONEY INTO MORE PUBLIC SPENDING.
For an administration that has managed to get the fawning D.C. media to write scores of stories about how wonderfully "disciplined" and "controlled" its message operation is, these two conflicting stories suggest a lack of, um, discipline and control. You may say that these conflicting reports are not Obama's doing - that they are Republicans causing trouble. That's true, except for the fact that Obama empowered Republicans to make that trouble when he agreed to start negotiating with them in the first place. Again, that initial decision doesn't suggest a lot of control and discipline.
Of course, this is one of the big problems with Obama's fetishization of pleasing the very Republicans he just crushed in the election - he empowers them. I just can't see any brilliance in that at all. No one is asking him to be overly partisan - and everyone supports him rhetorically reaching out for unity. But, at a time of wide Democratic majorities, pursuing "bipartisanship" at the cost of good legislation - well, that's just insane, especially because, again, it makes the Republicans look stronger than they are, and Obama weaker than he is.
And look, I'm all ready for Obama partisans can go ahead and tell me I'm just too stupid to see some double super-secret fakeout pony plan where Obama making himself look like a huge weakling desperate for praise from right-wing lunatics is somehow beneficial to a president getting things done. If that's the case, and the strategy really is to make Obama look like a wimp, then guilty as charged - I'm dumb as a rock because I don't get it.
So which of these stories are true? Do we have President Obama the winner of the 2008 election heading to Capitol Hill to tell the most irrelevant group of people in American politics that he won the election, that they are irrelevant, and that America stands with Democrats in support of a robust spending-based economic recovery package? Or do we have Obama, a new kind of triangulator, desperately weakening himself by inexplicably empowering irrelevant Republicans with leverage to sabotage the economic recovery package - leverage they only have if they get it from him?
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