At Boehner’s Request, He and Obama Negotiate Alone [View all]

[democrattotheend]

Source: The New York Times

WASHINGTON — At House Speaker John A. Boehner’s request, Senate leaders and Representative Nancy Pelosi have been excluded from talks to avert a fiscal crisis, leaving it to Mr. Boehner and President Obama alone to find a deal, Congressional aides say.

All sides, even the parties excluded, say clearing the negotiating room improves the chance of success. It adds complexity as the two negotiators consult separately with the leaders not in the room. But it also minimizes the number of people who need to say yes to an initial agreement.

...

This time, while Mr. Boehner has made himself the sole focal point, aides say he has made sure a broad leadership team is behind him. He meets every morning while the House is in session with the full slate of Republican leaders, as well as the committee chairmen who would most likely implement a deal: Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, who heads the Budget Committee; Representative Dave Camp of Michigan, who leads the Ways and Means Committee; and Representative Fred Upton of Michigan, who heads the Energy and Commerce Committee.

White House officials have begun daily conference calls with the communications staffs of Mr. Reid and Ms. Pelosi. The White House communications director, Dan Pfeiffer, met with the Senate Democratic Caucus last week, and the director of the National Economic Council, Gene Sperling, spoke with the House Democrats late last month.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/us/politics/at-boehners-request-he-and-obama-negotiate-alone.html

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Not sure what to think of this. I hope we don't learn of a deal to cut entitlements too late to act. On the other hand, maybe when it's just the two of them they will be able to negotiate more easily. For reasons I will lay out tomorrow (or sometime after exams), I have come to believe that a deal might still be the best option, even if it involves some entitlement reform, if it involves raising taxes on the rich and putting in place a mechanism like the McConnell rule to prevent further showdowns over the debt ceiling, for which the GOP will continue to extra huge cuts.