So, the GOPers have been complaining that the President has to "lead," and put a proposal on the table first in the deficit negotiations. Obama does that -- and their response is to reject it, then leak it to the press
Republicans called the proposal outlandish and brushed it aside as
unserious. But it’s almost entirely comprised of policies Obama
campaigned on and included in his budget for the current fiscal year. . . .
Maybe someone should tell Boehner that the idea here is for him to make a counter offer. . . .
Details of the plan: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/11/29/the-white-houses-fiscal-cliff-proposal/
Obama to GOP: I’m done negotiating with myself
[NB: This is the key point about the plan. Unlike the health care debate, where Obama abandoned from the very outset what he really wanted to adopt a Republican LIte plan straight from the notebooks of Mitt Romney and others, in the hopes that carving out a middle ground would hasten agreement (which they still rejected), now he's saying, "Here's my plan - now you give me yours." And the GOPers DO NOT want to do that.]
All the wise heads agree on the general shape of a workable agreement -- the question is whether politically the parties can get themelves there
More: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/11/republicans-getting-cold-feet-entitlement-reform
“There’s a standoff, and the staff hasn’t gotten
anywhere. Rob Nabors [the White House negotiator], has been saying:
‘This is what we want on revenues on the down payment. What’s you guys’
ask on the entitlement side?’ And they keep looking back at us and saying: ‘We want you to come up with that and pitch us.’ That’s not going to happen.”
The bad faith and dishonesty of the attacks on Susan Rice
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/29/1165680/-Rice-s-Republican-critics-won-t-let-up
More: http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/rachel-maddow-deconstructs-susan-rice-consp
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/jon-stewart-takes-mccain-and-graham-task-h
The GOP wants John Kerry (what they WANT is his Senate seat)
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/11/30/gop_pushing_kerry_for_secretary_of_state.html
Turning the corner on the economy?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/29/1165725/-First-time-jobless-benefit-claims-sharply-down-gross-domestic-product-growth-up-with-caveats
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/11/29/15540655-economic-growth-improves-significantly
Stuart Stevens, Romney advisor, made a total ass of himself in the pages of the Washington Post, as we discussed yesterday. Today he's all over the airwaves trying to back off his own stupid, racist comments. Has there EVER been a losing campaign that has spent so much effort in trying to explain/excuse/deny why they lost?
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/stuart-stevens-women-hispanics.php
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