I don't understand the winning by Schumer and Pelosi

[question everything]

Please bear with me. I was listening to Lawrence O'Donnell, who could not contain his glee and I still don't get it.

Republicans wanted to delay talk about the debt ceiling for 18 months, but Democrats offered three months and Whiny Donny accepted it.

First, I thought that the debt ceiling has to be raised by October 1st. So will it be raised, then? And if yes, by December you will have to negotiate it again, so what is the benefit?

As I said, I do not follow all maneuvering. Please explain.

Thank you

[drray23]

1. given that they got trump to agree to only a three month extension, this gives the dems leverage

before the 2018 midterms. The repubs wanted to bury that past the 2018 elections. If the topic is revisited at the end of the year, this will give ammunitions and leverage to the dems to hammer the GOP close to the elections. It will force some GOP congress people to take hard votes on things they'd rather not vote on close to an election.

[question everything]

5. Thanks. So they do think about the midterm elections

hope it pays.

[murielm99]

2. One of the issues is that

eighteen months puts it right before the election. If the Democrats can be made to look like the bad guys right before the midterms, it hurts their chances. We will need to look closely at all the dirty tricks they try to pull just before the midterms.

[question everything]

6. Thanks. Glad to see that our leaders are as cunning as theirs

even more so.

[greeny2323]

3. It gives us leverage

Yes, the debt ceiling will be raised, but only for three months, so they will need to do it again in three months.

The problem Republicans have is mainly in the House where there are so many insane jackass Republicans who would happily let the US default on its debt. So Ryan KNOWS he needs Democratic votes to avoid that catastrophe. That gives Democrats tremendous leverage to make demands for their votes.

[question everything]

4. Oh, thanks. No wonder the pugs already hate this

and, I think, Whiny Donny enjoys this.

[murielm99]

7. 45 certainly is going after Congress lately.

He does not realize their role, that they do not work for him. This could come back to bite him in the butt. He is only so useful to them, and when he becomes a liability, they may turn on him.

I think the Democrats played 45. So much for the art of the deal and the great deal maker.

[Wellstone ruled]

8. It's all about saving Wall Street

for going south. So far all those rosy Jobs Numbers are being revised down ward. Don't think the Koch Brothers are about to take a hit. They want their Tax Breaks,but they will not let the Country Crash just to say Paul Ryan's sorry rear end.

[uponit7771]

9. So trust Republicans to honor said leverage? Deal is Still not making sense

[CakeGrrl]

13. And hopefully to keep Rs from screwing with a clean vote on DACA. /nt

[eleny]

10. Adding one more explanation here that Lawrence talked about

The Republicans wanted an 18 month extension and the Dems wanted 3 months. The negotiation would normally end up around 9 months. This would have made the R's happy because it's the time they needed to hammer out a tax cut bill. They desperately want a tax cut bill. Three months is not enough time for them to get it accomplished. Sounds like Lawrence is thinking that the Republican timeline on this issue is now all fouled up.

I wasn't getting why the Dems won, either. I thought that doing a debt ceiling right at Christmas wasn't good for Dems. But it really is pretty good because the Republicans will look bad if they mess with the country's Christmas season. Businesses would be pretty ticked off if consumers decided not to shop in the month right before Christmas. And they just might curtail spending somewhat given how bad the last government shutdown went. People wouldn't like their holidays tainted and the R's would get the shiner because Dems are always ready to raise the debt ceiling. Especially since we're having bad storms and lots of money spent because we have to provide relief to the victims. There's no way the R's could conger up plausible shenanigans to hold the government hostage to their demands between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So the R's have been screwed. That's why they all looked shell shocked today.

[RussBLib]

11. I feel ya, question everything

...and I don't normally use that expression.

Even after the explanations offered to your OP, I still don't fully see the big benefit to the Dems. It seems that people are suggesting that a vote on the debt ceiling is like poison for the GOP, so the closer you can have it to a midterm, the better (the worse for the GOP). That sorta makes sense.

But any agreement can be superseded by another agreement. I don't trust Trump and I sure don't trust Ryan or McConnell. All of the old rules seems to be out the window.

[question everything]

12. Unhappy editors of the WSJ kinda explained it

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016192752

And, yes, the turtle and Ryan would love to have new agreements but Ryan, at least, does not have much control over his whiny members of the house.

[Historic NY]

14. Its screws the GOp'ers from using it to leverage ACA.