Saturday, April 09, 2011

Republican Hostage Strategy

"Details on the appropriations deal are still hard to come by, but you don’t need the details to know that substantial short-term cuts in domestic discretionary spending will hurt the poor while harming macroeconomic performance. The problem with not agreeing to the deal, of course, is that a government shutdown would also hurt the poor while harming macroeconomic performance.

If you genuinely don’t care about the interests of poor people and stand to benefit electorally from weak economic growth, this gives you a very strong hand to play as a hostage taker. And John Boehner is willing to play that hand." - Matt Yglesias

News organizations feel obligated to blame “both sides” at all times for everything. That narrative needs to end. Republicans saw a shutdown as a reasonable, if not attractive, option — one that their base would celebrate — that is disgusting.

Posted via email from liberalsarecool.com

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