The credit limit fight. Money for the wealthy and the war machine. Work requirements for the poor.
I am an old negotiator. I know how this process works.
You demand more than you expect to get and hope to get more than you had before you started.
Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy entered the negotiatiions demanding across the board cuts in federal spending.
He didn’t get that but he got more than he had.
The other trick to negotiating is to point to the extremists in your group and say it’s not me, it’s them. You plead innocent and say if I don’t get what I’m demanding the crazies will go ape-shit.
McCarthy played both cards.
Biden and the Democrats bungled this whole thing badly.
They could have raised the debt ceiling themselves in 2022 when the held a majority. Then all this would have been moot.
The details haven’t been released as I write this. But some things we know.
Late Saturday McCarthy announced that he and Biden had reached a tentative agreement in principle to raise the debt ceiling that includes new work requirements on social programs and cuts to the federal budget.
McCarthy said details of the agreement would be released Sunday, and lawmakers are expected to vote on it this upcoming Wednesday.
Biden appears to have agreed to a $50 billion tax giveaway, mostly to millionaires and billionaires.
Spending on the war machine will see increases.
New work requirements would be imposed on recipients of government aid, including food stamps and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
Among other things, the agreement would limit how long people under 54 without children could receive food stamps.
When I bargained contracts with my old board I wish Biden and the Democrats were bargaining for the other side.
They would have given away the store.