And, again, don’t say I didn’t tell you this was coming:
President Barack Obama this week has been laying the foundation for Senate Democrats to use a controversial budget maneuver to pass healthcare reform.
By offering Republicans olive branches during his address to Congress on Wednesday, Obama has set up a win-win situation. If GOP lawmakers embrace compromise, a healthcare bill would pass Congress easily. But the more likely scenario is that Republicans will continue to oppose Obama’s plan, and the president later this fall will be able to note he tried to strike a deal with the GOP but could not.
The Republican weakness? Their negotiating strategy sucks. Why let people know this in advance?
Most Republicans have been deeply unhappy with the Democratic health care proposals so far, and Republicans on the Finance Committee were said to be bracing for two possibilities: a partisan proposal that they were going to oppose, or a bipartisan proposal that they were going to oppose.
Because the Democratic strategy appears to rely on the Republicans being the Party of No, it makes little sense for the Republicans to go into the negotiations telegraphing that no matter what happens they will oppose the final product. That just makes it too easy for the Democrats to sell the American public on the necessity of using the reconciliation process. They’re doing our work for us.
