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from The Great Debate:
Obama’s political options
Fiscal crisis? What fiscal crisis? The stock market is up, unemployment is down and the deficit is shrinking.
The fiscal crisis is in Washington, and it's a crisis of Washington's own devising. All those deadlines! January 1: the fiscal cliff. March 1: sequesters. March 27: a possible government shutdown. Sometime in August: the debt ceiling, again.
The unending fiscal crisis could take up the entire year. President Barack Obama desperately wants to end it. For one thing, more spending cuts could bring on a recession. For another, an unending fiscal crisis would monopolize the agenda. No time for Congress to take up immigration reform or gun control or the minimum wage or preschool education.
What can Obama do? Here are the options:
1. The permanent campaign
Beginning in mid-February, the president tried to rally the public against the impending sequesters. He barnstormed the country, warning of the consequences and imploring voters to pressure Congress to resolve the impasse.
from The Great Debate:
Boehner resurrects the antebellum South
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is now in Williamsburg, Virginia, meeting with his House Republican conference at their annual retreat. The GOP House members have likely gotten over the initial shock of the November elections – in which President Barack Obama won more than 51 percent of the vote and the Democratic majority swelled in the Senate.
Though the Republicans lost House seats and their candidates collected more than a million fewer votes than their Democratic rivals, the GOP retained a majority in the House of Representatives. This consolation prize has allowed Boehner to claim that House Republicans have a mandate every bit as compelling as that earned by the president. Conservative champions Grover Norquist and Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) echoed this claim.
from The Great Debate:
Fiscal cliffhanger: Ignore the partisans
It is never acceptable for elected officials to put partisan politics and special-interest pledges ahead of their country. But when the stakes are great, as they are with the fiscal cliff negotiations, it is reprehensible.
People who talk about the political benefits of heading off the cliff need to have their heads examined. The blunt ax of massive spending cuts, along with huge across-the-board tax increases, would be irresponsible, possibly triggering another recession. It’s offensive for some Democrats and Republicans to suggest their party could “win” under this scenario, since the country and the American people would be sure losers.
from Breakingviews:
Infrastructural upgrade belongs in US fiscal talks
By Agnes T. Crane
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.
It won’t be long before Democrats will want to throw some form of economic stimulus into the discussions over righting America’s finances. Tactically, it could be a useful variable to add to the the negotiations with Republicans. Trouble is, most of them equate stimulus with waste. But there’s a way for the White House to square the circle by capitalizing on bipartisan disgust over the nation’s crumbling roads, collapsing bridges and insufficient sea walls. Call it the infrastructural upgrade card.
from Tales from the Trail:
Romney, Boehner do burgers
It was an all-American moment for Mitt Romney and House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday in their first joint appearance since Romney clinched the Republican nomination for president.
The pair rallied in Troy, Ohio, in Boehner's Congressional district, along with Ohio U.S. Senator Rob Portman.
from Tales from the Trail:
Meet John Boehner – powerful politician, ‘simple guy’
The most powerful Republican in America mows his own lawn, had youthful aspirations of becoming a salesman and quietly convinced two know-it-all lawmakers to vote "yes."
House Speaker John Boehner revealed these and other aspects about himself during a question-and-answer session after a high-profile speech Thursday to the Economic Club of Washington.
from James Pethokoukis:
Is Boehner’s job at stake?
John Boehner is fighting hard to right Washington' s finances. But is he also, in effect, fighting to keep his job?
To achieve either, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has to make the budget math work. His first bid to boost government borrowing authority and cut debt was flawed in this regard. With his debt plan already under fire from the right, a low-ball CBO score was the last thing he needed.
from Tales from the Trail:
Washington Extra – In abeyance
Some say impasse, some say abeyance.
But whatever they call it, debt negotiations between Vice President Joe Biden and lawmakers hit a brick wall.
After two days of meetings this week, Republicans decided it wasn't worth going to the third session today and walked away.
from Tales from the Trail:
Washington Extra – Tee party
President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner get to flex their golfing skills tomorrow and we're guessing there's plenty of pre-game strategizing going on.
Is Obama telling Vice President Joe Biden, arguably the best golfer of the four, to hold back on the hole-in-ones? They do after all want Boehner amenable to their views on the debt limit stand-off. 
