The next time you hear anyone on the right say Democrats don’t compromise I hope you will laugh in his or her face, then buy the person a drink.
You’ve really got to hand it to Republicans.
It’s déjà vu all over again, bringing back memories of this time last year when Pres. Obama allowed Republicans to squeeze him on extending the Bush tax cuts, which added to the deficit and became an unbelievable pain for progressives.
Just this week, Democratic lawmakers caved on the millionaire surtax as well and now Speaker Boehner has laid down the gauntlet on the payroll tax extension package that includes an unemployment benefit extension.
Republicans say they’re not budging on the pipeline. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told POLITICO on Friday: “The House will not pass a product without Keystone.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell has joined him. From Brian Beutler:
Regarding that legislation, Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell emails me with the following statement: “The Leader will not support any bill without the Keystone XL language as part of the agreement.”
As I’ve written before, Pres. Obama likely postponed a decision on the Keystone Pipeline out of his own political interests. It’s likely, in my opinion, that if he gets reelected he’ll give the go ahead on it.
This is something McConnell may or may not be betting on, but the Republican Leader does know that for his side it’s a good talking point to say that Democrats would rather the middle class face a tax increase than okay a project that will not only make us less dependent on foreign oil, but also create jobs. To McConnell, Pres. Obama is denying a tax cut for the middle class, new energy sources and the creation of jobs, all because of extremist environmental wackos, as Rush Limbaugh call people opposed to Keystone.
It doesn’t matter that Sen. McConnell’s portrayal is pure cynical politics. He’s betting it’s a sound bite that sings, at least with the right, which is all that matters.
The one thing you rarely will hear from Senate Democrats, especially on economics, where they always get behind, is “we’re not going to budge.” However, giving in on the Keystone Pipeline would be a monumental embarrassment and tectonic setback for the environmental movement.
Senate Democrats didn’t outright reject the Keystone idea on Friday morning. [...] Senate leaders hoped to get a deal on a year-long proposal, but weren’t ruling out a two-month deal as a fall-back plan. (Politico)
Pres. Obama and the Democrats are once again being beaten on the politics. They’ve simply shown no game at all. If Republicans win on their Keystone demands, it will be a very sour note on which to end the year.
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