Possibly the worst-kept secret in Washington: the Republicans are opposed to any deficit reduction legislation from the Democratic Party because… it’s from the Democratic Party.
From Michael Shear at the NY Times:
The House speaker, John A. Boehner, told a radio host on Wednesday that Republicans should support his plan for a debt ceiling increase because “Barack Obama hates it, Harry Reid hates it, Nancy Pelosi hates it.”
Time for a friendly reminder of the reality in Washington, from Adam Serwer:
One of the odd dynamics of the debt ceiling debate is that even when the president has been willing to give Republicans what they want — like offering cuts to entitlements — Republicans have rejected his offers. It seems as though to pass the House, an austerity proposal can’t simply contain substantial cuts, it has to be able to be portrayed as a rebuke to the president.
The republicans want ANY fuel to fire embarrassment onto the president. Children - they are fucking children.
“…I think this is a moral issue. The “both sides are at fault” people have to know better; if they refuse to say it, it’s out of some combination of fear and ego, of being unwilling to sacrifice their treasured pose of being above the fray.” (Krugman, ‘Centrism’: The Cult That Is Destroying America’)
