http://www.sundriesshack.com/2011/04/07/fun-with-bad-polls-or-why-wont-those-wicked-republicans-compromise/ Delivering the Best of the New Media Since 2004. Sat, 26 May 2012 07:05:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://www.sundriesshack.com/2011/04/07/fun-with-bad-polls-or-why-wont-those-wicked-republicans-compromise/comment-page-1/#comment-702194 Conservatives and the Pretty Good, Better than Expected, Not Too Shabby At All Budget Deal Sat, 09 Apr 2011 06:30:25 +0000 http://www.sundriesshack.com/?p=15586#comment-702194 [...] — $100 billion against “Screw you and the Tea Parties you rode in on”.Republicans backed down to $61 billion and Democrats ponied up a counter-offer of $6 billion (which they then blew up to $50 billion [...] [...] — $100 billion against “Screw you and the Tea Parties you rode in on”.Republicans backed down to $61 billion and Democrats ponied up a counter-offer of $6 billion (which they then blew up to $50 billion [...]

]]> http://www.sundriesshack.com/2011/04/07/fun-with-bad-polls-or-why-wont-those-wicked-republicans-compromise/comment-page-1/#comment-702188 EricH Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:59:27 +0000 http://www.sundriesshack.com/?p=15586#comment-702188 Republicans didn't exactly negotiate their way from $100B to $61B, they just lowered their sights, as time passed; cutting 4% from a year's budget is bound to be more money than cutting the same 4% from a 7 month budget. I think that's why they don't get credit for compromising.... What bugs me at this point in the ongoing reporting is that they only mention the disagreement on the top-line number, as though that was the only problem. ("Dems won't cut more than $33B, Reps won't cut less than $40B, this is going to cause a shutdown!") But even if they settled on one number or the other, there would still be disagreements on where to make the cuts, and those disagreements would be enough to make the budget fail. Republicans didn't exactly negotiate their way from $100B to $61B, they just lowered their sights, as time passed; cutting 4% from a year's budget is bound to be more money than cutting the same 4% from a 7 month budget. I think that's why they don't get credit for compromising….
What bugs me at this point in the ongoing reporting is that they only mention the disagreement on the top-line number, as though that was the only problem. ("Dems won't cut more than $33B, Reps won't cut less than $40B, this is going to cause a shutdown!") But even if they settled on one number or the other, there would still be disagreements on where to make the cuts, and those disagreements would be enough to make the budget fail.

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