By Neil SinhababuI agree with Amanda and everyone that having given us zero votes in response to Obama's concessions on an issue of genuine value, the House Republicans "can’t be dealt with like reasonable people." As Sean Robinson said in his great October bailout post, they are "a death cult who should be put to the flame by rational men."
Let me spell out the optimistic case for what was achieved by all this apparently fruitless compromise. With Obama's high-profile concessions followed by zero GOP votes for the bill, we have a striking spectacle of Obama trying to be a good bipartisan guy and the House Republicans being the death cult. It's important that Obama do this once at the beginning while the cameras are flashing, because he ran as the post-partisan division-transcender. It's possible that this image helped him get his high approval ratings, because anybody at 70% is getting the love of some Republicans and right-leaning independents who wouldn't like a partisan Democrat. But after a scene like this, the fans of bipartisanship will understand when Obama lets Nancy Pelosi do to John Boehner all the gruesome things that the majoritarian institutions of the House permit.
The pessimistic case, of course, is that Obama is the guy I feared he was back in my Johnny days -- a true post-partisan, whether for its own sake or for the approval of the Washington Post editorial page, who shrinks from using brute partisan force in the many situations where passing progressive legislation will depend on it. In that case, I imagine the House situation will rectify itself somewhat as Pelosi and Waxman get restless. Without Obama's support, the things they push through will die or be watered down in the Senate.
