I saw the reports that Dan Pfeiffer, a senior advisor to president Obama, announced on TV this morning that Republicans have to compromise in upcoming budget talks. According Pfeiffer, the GOP has to give up the "my way or the highway" attitude.
So here is the question of the day: if Obama or the Democrats in the senate refuse to consider the positions put forward by the Republicans, why is that fine, but when the GOP in the House sticks to its principles, they are being obstinant? I mean just look at where we are and where we have been recently on the topic of the budget:
1) Before the sequester went into effect, Republicans put forward three different plans in the House to reduce any negative impact of those reductions in the growth of spending. The first two were not even brought up for consideration in the senate by the Democrats. The third, a plan to insert flexibility into the cuts so that the more important programs would not be hit, was dropped after Obama announced he would veto the measure if it passed. The Democrats did not pass a single measure in the Senate to modify the impact of the sequester. Obama came out with a belated proposal to raise taxes instead of seeing sequestration go into effect. Obama never disclosed the details of this supposed plan, unlike the GOP which actually passed two different bills that spelled out their plan in detail. But to hear the media, the GOP was refusing to budge and Obama wanted to negotiate. In other words, the media reported fantasy rather than reality.
It is worth noting that since the sequester went into effect, the GOP plan mentioned above to provide flexibility to protect the more important programs has, for the most part, been passed and Obama has signed it. So the GOP offered a compromise, and when they were done demagoguing the issue, Obama and the Democrats quietly accepted.
2) According to law (yes, federal LAW), Obama had to put forth a budget by February first. He ignored the law and did not offer a budget. Meanwhile the GOP in the House put forth and passed a budget by the date required by law, and the Senate also passed a budget which was only slightly late. Now, Obama is supposedly going to release his budget this next week, even though it is late and essentially useless. Sunday's comments by Pfeiffer were part of a discussion about responses to Obama's proposed budget. So remember, THERE IS NO BUDGET FROM OBAMA YET, but Pfeiffer and the media are already out with criticism of the GOP response to the non-existant budget. Now it is true that bits and pieces of the Obama budget have been leaked as trial balloons by Obama and his people, and these leaks have engendered responses from folks all across the political spectrum. Some fools have even criticized those who have commented on the leaked components of the Obama budget; they denounce such comments as premature because we do not yet have all the details of Obama's proposal. I wonder how many of these people will now denounce the action of the White House in attacking the GOP for refusing to compromise with regard to a budget which is not yet even available. Has Obama proposed a compromise between his budget and that of the House? NO. Has any Democrat proposed a compromise on that budget? NO. So we should not have to listen to a White House adviser criticize the GOP for doing something that it has not done.
So here is the question of the day: if Obama or the Democrats in the senate refuse to consider the positions put forward by the Republicans, why is that fine, but when the GOP in the House sticks to its principles, they are being obstinant? I mean just look at where we are and where we have been recently on the topic of the budget:
1) Before the sequester went into effect, Republicans put forward three different plans in the House to reduce any negative impact of those reductions in the growth of spending. The first two were not even brought up for consideration in the senate by the Democrats. The third, a plan to insert flexibility into the cuts so that the more important programs would not be hit, was dropped after Obama announced he would veto the measure if it passed. The Democrats did not pass a single measure in the Senate to modify the impact of the sequester. Obama came out with a belated proposal to raise taxes instead of seeing sequestration go into effect. Obama never disclosed the details of this supposed plan, unlike the GOP which actually passed two different bills that spelled out their plan in detail. But to hear the media, the GOP was refusing to budge and Obama wanted to negotiate. In other words, the media reported fantasy rather than reality.
It is worth noting that since the sequester went into effect, the GOP plan mentioned above to provide flexibility to protect the more important programs has, for the most part, been passed and Obama has signed it. So the GOP offered a compromise, and when they were done demagoguing the issue, Obama and the Democrats quietly accepted.
2) According to law (yes, federal LAW), Obama had to put forth a budget by February first. He ignored the law and did not offer a budget. Meanwhile the GOP in the House put forth and passed a budget by the date required by law, and the Senate also passed a budget which was only slightly late. Now, Obama is supposedly going to release his budget this next week, even though it is late and essentially useless. Sunday's comments by Pfeiffer were part of a discussion about responses to Obama's proposed budget. So remember, THERE IS NO BUDGET FROM OBAMA YET, but Pfeiffer and the media are already out with criticism of the GOP response to the non-existant budget. Now it is true that bits and pieces of the Obama budget have been leaked as trial balloons by Obama and his people, and these leaks have engendered responses from folks all across the political spectrum. Some fools have even criticized those who have commented on the leaked components of the Obama budget; they denounce such comments as premature because we do not yet have all the details of Obama's proposal. I wonder how many of these people will now denounce the action of the White House in attacking the GOP for refusing to compromise with regard to a budget which is not yet even available. Has Obama proposed a compromise between his budget and that of the House? NO. Has any Democrat proposed a compromise on that budget? NO. So we should not have to listen to a White House adviser criticize the GOP for doing something that it has not done.
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