Fiscal Funnies

The fiscal cliff theater going on in Washington strikes me as a ton of fun, and I wish I had more time to follow it.

As near as I can tell, the Republicans are refusing to negotiate while complaining that the President is refusing to negotiate. They say the President’s offer is not “serious,” but they have made no offers at all. So what does that make them?

They seem to think that “negotiating” means they can wait until the President offers them a package they like. However, the President has made it plain he is done negotiating with himself. The ball is in the GOP court.

Jonathan Chait says the Republicans are hoping that when the deadline for the “cliff” is nigh, the President will panic and give them what they want, which is to gut Medicare, Medicaid, etc. They are counting on fiscal hawks among the Dems to pressure the President to cave. He might, but I’m betting that he won’t.

Meanwhile, the Republicans are putting out signals that they want John Kerry to be the Secretary of State nominee. Y’know, the guy they swift-boated in 2004 and complained that he was too weak to run foreign policy is suddenly a man of integrity and international experience, as opposed to that Susan Rice bimbo. It’s worth noting that if John Kerry resigned his Senate seat it would be filled through a special election, and Scott Brown looks like a logical choice to run for it.