The Washington Post reports that Republicans, having gotten a taste of that sweet, irresponsible obstruction, don't see why they shouldn't give it a try for another two years:
They say they will insist on keeping in place all the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003. House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the incoming speaker, and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that if Obama were serious about curtailing earmarks, he would promise to veto any bill that contains them. And on Tuesday, the Senate's second-ranking Republican, Jon Kyl (Ariz.), said he will not support ratification of the U.S. nuclear treaty with Russia until next year, dealing a potentially fatal blow to one of Obama's top foreign policy priorities.
This makes me think that Jon Bernstein's en masse Republican resignation idea is actually plausible; it's an agenda that would accomplish as much for the GOP as refusing to engage with the other 1.5 branches of government controlled by the Democrats. My favorite conventional-wisdom-slathered suggestion is that a key problem is President Obama's lack of friends among Republicans, because the GOP could be expected to adopt a compromise for a pal when they won't do it in the interest of the common good or against their political interests.
But I do have to object to the reporter calling a decision to postpone a bipartisan meeting "a stark example of Obama's diminished ability to bend lawmakers to his will." When has the president ever been able to bend Republicans to his will? Did I sleep through that period?
-- Tim Fernholz
