And so, President Obama has left for Hawaii, where the fiscal cliff will hit five hours later than in Washington, DC. I understand that Speaker Boehner could not get 218 Republican votes for his plan and, therefore, the House of Representatives has adjourned until after Christmas. But I am not sure why the President should give up, too.
I understand that the President feels he should get his plan passed. He was re-elected, and the Democrats gained seats in both the Senate and House. Clearly, he won. The only problem is that Republicans still control the House, and all of them were re-elected, too. And while the President thinks that his plan is best, they think theirs is. He has his beliefs – and they have theirs. President Obama may think that going over the fiscal cliff will be good for Democrats politically, but will it be okay for the country economically? Going over the cliff may help Democrats in November of 2014, but what happens to the country until then?
I understand that President Obama can’t reach an agreement with Speaker Boehner and a majority of the Republicans in the House. But he doesn’t need a majority of Republicans in the House. If he can keep all the Democrats, all he needs is five Republicans in the Senate (assuming Harry Reid can’t figure out a way around the filibuster rules) and 17 in the House. Why isn’t he trying to pick off a few Republicans here and there? It’s only 17 out of 234. That’s less than ten percent. That’s what other presidents have done. Why can’t he? Why can’t he try?
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