Robert Kuttner

The deal negotiated last night is a disaster politically and economically. The liberals who went all out to elect Barack Obama have been reacting with increasing dismay to the president’s combination of center-right impulses and inept negotiating habits. The right plays hardball, is rewarded for its intransigence, creating incentives to play more hardball. Its success […]

In a just world, Speaker John Boehner’s failure to get the votes for a Republican debt-ceiling plan that is already doomed to certain Senate defeat should put pressure on Republicans to compromise. But that doesn’t seem likely. Boehner may yet find the votes for an even more conservative (and doomed) measure, and in any case, […]

Uh-oh. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has previously functioned pretty well as a firebreak against President Obama’s instincts to give away the store, now seems to be tottering toward a Republican deal. If that occurs, yet another leader would be rewarding Republican intransigence. Reportedly, Reid’s deal, offered as the Democrats’ last hope to ward […]

The EU’s bailout deal for Greece was slightly more generous than expected — $159 billion of refinancing, of which private bondholders, mainly banks, are expected to eat about 20 percent of the loss. However, rating agencies are arguing that this will be technically considered a default, triggering payments under credit-default swaps; and there is still […]

The heads of the European Union are meeting in an emergency summit to try to resolve the Greek debt situation. But the best they are likely to manage is a temporary fix. A tentative plan agreed to yesterday French President Sarkozy and German Chancellor Merkel is to be presented to the summit this afternoon. But […]

When it comes to setting up Democrats to give away Social Security and Medicare, the Bowles-Simpson Commission is the diabolical gift that keeps on giving. Long officially defunct, the B-S Commission is a zombie that just won’t die. The Gang of Six is the commission’s spawn — same kind of proposal, same needless sacrifice of […]

I’ve long argued that the Obama administration, despite Republican obstructionism, could do a lot to help ordinary people in this economy through executive action. On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board began two days of hearings on a proposed rule change that would make it just a little harder for employers to stonewall and harass […]

The White House this morning announced that President Obama will appoint Richard Cordray, former Ohio Attorney General, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The appointment drew the strong support of Elizabeth Warren, who said today, “Rich has always had my strong support because he is tough and he is smart-and that’s exactly the combination […]