I actively worked against the Affordable Care Act for a variety of reasons, but celebrated the good things in it once it passed. I passively was against the December tax cut deal, but saw real value in the shit sandwich that did help unemployed and non-wealthy folks.
In both cases, I thought the President and Congressional Democrats ceded the terms of debate and approached negotiations poorly, giving away too much at the outset. I thought they (and we) all could have fought harder and earlier against even the most obstructionist minority. In the end, however, politicians is as politicians does and I felt we got still got necessary things out of each piece of legislation.
Not this time.
It isn't just the framing or sausage making strategy I object to. It's the actual economic policy. And the electoral politics. There is nothing good in this at all, particularly when there were alternatives.
Of course it's easy being an armchair strategist, yet as citizens we have a right and responsibility to pay attention to the process and weigh in. And I've got a blog.
My biggest problem with the deal: it validated terrorist tactics. What was for many decades a routine housekeeping item became a hostage, and while obviously the blame for using such a tactic rests solely on the GOP, the Democratic SWAT team ended up shooting lots of bystanders while rescuing the hostage.
What's more, the President did, in fact, have Executive options. The 14th Amendment gambit–something President Clinton, amongst others, would have used–was viable. Biden even let it be known Obama would've gone that route if necessary, so it was never ruled out. The $5T platinum coin gambit, while absurd on its face, was still possible. The overdraft approach. Any number of things that could mitigate the crisis without Congress doing its duty.
Some folks online have tried making Lincoln comparisons. Hey, Abe lost some battles but we don't say he sucked, right? Yeah, well, thing is that he didn't ever give in to the South's extortion, and also used controversial measures (suspending habeas, emancipation, etc) to push his agenda. And while he might have lost battles through his incompetent generals, he had no qualms with sacking them when they failed until he finally found one who won the war. Obama's doing the exact opposite on all fronts.
I was asked if I'd prefer an impeachment instead of going along with GOP austerity. Hell to the yes! Impeachment helped President Clinton, just as the shutdown did. I'd much rather have Republicans yet again overreach than have Democrats be complicit in their destruction of the economy.
From a policy perspective, the deal sucks without any meaningful concessions from the GOP (save, you know, doing what they should have done in the first place and raising the debt ceiling). No revenues on the table. Automatic triggers to gut services if the extra-Constitutional Super Congress can't get anything done.
Even with most reductions staved off, any now take money out of the economy and further cuts in the next budget aren't off the table. Clearly the markets (not a great indicator, of course) are reacting poorly to the reality that austerity will kill the anemic recovery, possibly costing 1.8M jobs next year.
America needs job creation, not job losses. Obama and the Dems need job creation, not job losses. And people need more social insurance, not less.
Speaking of which, the Medicare cuts won't be applied to patient benefits, but doctor reimbursement. Like that won't have any impact on patients. And for all those who tout the deal as some magic pixie dust to get Obama re-elected, this component at best neutralizes the Dems' effective attacks on the GOP's plan to destroy Medicare–at worst, it gives Republicans a chance to repeat their 2010 strategy.
I never expected Obama to be a progressive Messiah, which is why he didn't earn my vote in the primaries. And I understand the need for pragmatic politics, exemplified by ACA and the tax deal, as one tries to effect change.
I will not accept a complete sellout of Democratic and liberal ideals in search of a Grand Bargain. I will not accept the exact wrong economic policy when we're in dire straits.
What Obama and his Democrats in Congress have done is akin to ignoring global warming science and deciding to go along with anti-scientific deniers by scrapping all efficiency standards and pumping more carbon into the air. Okay, not the best analogy perhaps, but jesus, they did just toss out everything we learned from the Great Depression and Roosevelt Recession, so they might as well dump everything we've ever written down if they're going to skip the lessons therein.
Solution? Dunno. Maybe Al Gore and that KO guy have some ideas…
ntodd