Why Deals Aren't Possible With The Republicans

Ezra Klein:

[A] background briefing I attended with a respected Republican legislator who thought it would be a gamechanger for President Obama to say he’d be open to chained CPI — a policy that cuts Social Security benefits — as part of a budget deal. The only problem? Obama has said he’s open to chained CPI as part of a budget deal. And this isn’t one of those times where the admission was in private, and we’re going off of news reports. It’s right there on his Web site. It’s literally in bold type. But key GOP legislators have no idea Obama’s made that concession. The question my column left open was whether improving the lines of communication would actually change anything. Chait’s view is no, it wouldn’t. [...]

What happened next on Twitter proved Chait’s point in every particular.

Mike Murphy… has been a top strategist for Mitt Romney, John McCain, Jeb Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many other Republicans. He’s also, as his client list would suggest, from the party’s more pragmatic, even moderate, wing…. On Feb. 13, Murphy wrote in Time that “six magic words can unlock the door to the votes inside the Republican fortress: Some beneficiaries pay more and chained CPI, budgetary code for slightly lowering benefit increases over time.” The only problem? Obama has said all these words, as John Harwood of the New York Times quickly pointed….

Murphy responded by suggesting that sure, Obama has called for more means-testing in Medicare, but he’s not put chained CPI — CCPI, if you’re hamstrung by Twitter’s 140-character limit — on the board…. [But he] endorsed it as part of a cliff deal, and he’s kept endorsing it, as his sequestration plan clearly says, since the cliff deal fell apart. This was quickly pointed out to Murphy on Twitter, at which point, he promptly proved Chait’s thesis correct….Continued

Comments

[Ruth]

Because the sky in their world? is whatever color they want it to be.

[Dr X]

Yes, Ruth, but the color of their president, Democratic Blue, refuses to yield to their wishes.

[Ruth]

Well...isn't the article about how he had compromised, giving them what they wanted and expected, and how they were ignoring the fact? I heart POTUS and all, but he sometimes seems confused about why he's there.