Working With New Script to Stop a Train Wreck
By JOHN HARWOOD
NYT
WASHINGTON — The toughest legislative negotiations always resemble those old movies in which a terrified and helpless damsel lies bound to the railroad tracks.
At the last instant, a hero intervenes to stop the locomotive. It happened with tax reform in the 1980s, deficit reduction in the ’90s, and the health care overhaul last year.
Odds remain good that because of the immense pressure for action on all involved, the pattern will repeat itself this week on raising the debt limit and averting a default by the United States government. But Washington’s capacity to recreate that narrative arc faces an unusually demanding test.
One set of reasons involves the continuing evolution of the American political culture in ways that make bipartisan compromise more difficult. In 2008, Barack Obama, as a presidential candidate, made changing that culture a signature objective; if anything, it has grown more dysfunctional during his presidency.
(More here.)
NYT
WASHINGTON — The toughest legislative negotiations always resemble those old movies in which a terrified and helpless damsel lies bound to the railroad tracks.
At the last instant, a hero intervenes to stop the locomotive. It happened with tax reform in the 1980s, deficit reduction in the ’90s, and the health care overhaul last year.
Odds remain good that because of the immense pressure for action on all involved, the pattern will repeat itself this week on raising the debt limit and averting a default by the United States government. But Washington’s capacity to recreate that narrative arc faces an unusually demanding test.
One set of reasons involves the continuing evolution of the American political culture in ways that make bipartisan compromise more difficult. In 2008, Barack Obama, as a presidential candidate, made changing that culture a signature objective; if anything, it has grown more dysfunctional during his presidency.
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home