Watching cable news, you will see iteration after iteration of Capitol Hill reporters and other commentators expressing mystification that the House isn’t talking to the Senate, the White House isn’t talking to Congress, Democrats aren’t negotiating with Republicans, etc. Here’s a tip.
John Boehner has already told everyone, including Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, and Barack Obama, that his caucus isn’t going to budge on the Sequester until after it kicks in and starts causing real pain. He doesn’t have a strategy beyond that. Everyone knows that this is what he’s going to do, so anytime you see someone call for negotiations or compromise, they are either positioning themselves politically or they are actually referring to some time in the future, meaning March.
When reporters call for negotiations or wonder why they aren’t occurring, they are either engaging in unprofessional partisanship or simply demonstrating they can’t understand their own beat. When partisans call for negotiations, they are either spinning the public or simply appealing for sanity.
This isn’t that complicated. John Boehner already promised his Caucus that he would not introduce a bill to replace the Sequester that adds one dime in taxes or raises any revenue from closing tax loopholes that the wealthy use to avoid paying their full share. Since this is exactly what the president considers the bare minimum of any deal, Boehner is trapped and he isn’t going to do anything proactive. Until his caucus stops hyperventilating, he can do nothing. McConnell knows it. Reid knows it. And Obama knows it. So, we’re just waiting for the tantrum to end.
