Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: "The tax issue is finished, over, completed. That's behind us." Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
President Obama and Republicans apparently moved even further apart this weekend in their contentious negotiations over the country's long-term debt.
In his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Obama declared he would not negotiate over the debt ceiling: "One thing I will not compromise over is whether or not Congress should pay the tab for a bill they've already racked up. If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic."
For more than a month, Republicans have suggested they would use the debt ceiling as leverage to extract more concessions on spending cuts from the president.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told ABC News on Sunday that he would not accept any new tax increases in the continuing negotiations: "The tax issue is finished, over, completed. That's behind us. Now the question is what are we going to do about the biggest problem confronting our country and our future, and that's our spending addiction."
The senator's position is at odds with many Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who have signaled they would accept greater tax revenues as part of an overhaul of the tax code, including closing loopholes and decreasing exemptions.
But as Z. Byron Wolf points out, in Washington, D.C. "saying you won't do something these days has almost become like an opening bid."
It's almost as if not negotiating is now a negotiating tactic.
Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political websites. He also runs Wonk Wire and the Political Dictionary. Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and COO of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. senator and governor. Goddard is also co-author of You Won — Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including The Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor. Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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