On debt limit, public posturing and private negotiation
In Washington speak, it's called "drawing lines in the sand." In the world of negotiations, it's a starting point.
The public/private battles over the debt ceiling have once again brought Washington to the brink of, well, gamesmanship. Publicly, each side lays down lines in the sand that they use to rally their base and tell their members in Congress and supporters back home that they fought the good fight.
Before today's meeting at the White House, House Republicans drew their lines.
"I've also made clear that we are not going to raise taxes on the American people. We're not going to raise taxes on the very people that we expect to reinvest in our economy and help grow jobs," said House Speaker John Boehner.
Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor followed suit. "I will make it clear as I did then that we as Republicans are not going to support tax increases. It is counterintuitive to think that you can raise taxes in a sputtering economy," he said.
After the White House meeting, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi drew her own lines. "I also want to have full clarity about where House Democrats stand. We do not support cuts in benefits for social security and Medicare. Any discussion of Medicare or social security should be on its own table. I've said that before, do you want to take a look at social security? Then look at it on its own table," she said.
This has been the only thing lawmakers have done for the last few weeks - mark their territory and draw their lines in the big Washington sandbox. The leaders state their hard line opening positions. They reassure their backers that they are committed to their principles and will not compromise on them.
If those lines were ironclad, nothing would ever get done. But as much as politicians draw their lines in public, they are hesitant to ever negotiate that way. The real discussions happen behind closed doors.
Just as Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid worked until the 11th hour with President Obama to prevent a government shut down earlier this year, party leaders will work together in another series of meetings in an attempt to raise the debt ceiling and prevent the government from defaulting on its loans.
In calling for another round of meetings Thursday, Mr. Obama called on the two sides to work together, and publicly declared they had agreed on a few principles.
"I want to emphasize that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. And the parties are still far apart on a wide range of issues," he said. "But, again, I thought that all the leaders here came in a spirit of compromise, in a spirit of wanting to solve problems on behalf of the American people. Everybody acknowledged that the issue of our debt and our deficit is something that needs to be tackled now... And everybody acknowledged that there's going to be pain involved politically on all sides, but our biggest obligation is to make sure that we're doing the right thing by the American people, creating an environment in which we can grow the economy and make sure that more and more people are being put back to work."
In other words, the president drew his own line, telling Congressional leadership they need to be prepared to step over theirs in order to get anything accomplished.
