Dalai Lama at the White House--maybe he could mediate the debt talks
President Obama plans to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the White House Saturday. It will be a private meeting, and the president is expected to support the Dalai Lama and his representatives in their effort to engage with Chinese authorities to resolve long-standing differences regarding the preservation of Tibet's culture and human rights.
The Dalai Lama has proposed to China a "Middle-Way Approach" to "peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet and to bring about stability and co-existence between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples based on equality and mutual co-operation."
The Middle-Way Approach doesn't seek independence from China, but asks for meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people within China's borders. So far, the Dalai Lama has not had a great deal of success in getting China, and some of his own people, to follow his Middle-Way Approach, but he persists.
Likewise, President Obama persists in his desire to "stabilize America's finances for a decade, for 15 years or 20 years" with a far-reaching, $4 trillion debt deal. Having the Dalai Lama in the White House Saturday presents a unique opportunity. His Holiness is familiar with difficult negotiations and impasses. Mr. Obama could ask for his help solving his own vexing impasse, calling lawmakers into a meeting Saturday, with the Dalai Lama serving as a kind of mediator.
The Buddhist leader would calm frayed nerves and bruised egos, and bring some middle-way sensibility to the contentious debate among lawmakers.
Obama meets with Dalai Lama, Chinese complainOf course, this is pure fantasy and won't happen. But, the Dalai Lama might offer some sage advice to Mr. Obama regarding how to gain the opposition's embrace for his "balanced"approach.
For the president, the balanced approach includes revenue increases (taxes) as well as spending cuts in entitlement programs and other areas. The GOP has a different view of what constitutes a balanced approach, and remains firmly opposed to any tax increases.
According to House Speaker John Boehner, who met with the Dalai Lama last week, "President Obama has been talking tough about cutting spending, but his deeds aren't matching his words."
The middle way still seems far away, and the clock is ticking.
