Schumer did what?

Schumer did what?

by digby

Oh, heck. It turns out that Chuck "Wall Street" Schumer isn't a working class hero after all:
The election, what did it say,” he continued. “You elected a Republican House, and what was their watch-word: cut spending. You elected a Democratic Senate and a handsome victory for President Obama. What was our platform? The wealthy should pay a little bit more and there should be new revenues. Just marry the two. The trick will be if Speaker Boehner’s instincts to preserve the Republican Party and preserve the nation in a certain sense, will prevail over the hard right. He needs some help.”

Schumer said in return, Democrats would be willing to negotiate changes on matters close to their party, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and indicated Obama might say as much in an address from the East Room of the White House on Friday.
Dday quips:
So Republicans get the same tax rates, and Democrats… no wait, Republicans ALSO get spending cuts (from a discretionary baseline that’s the lowest in 60 years) and unspecified “changes” to Medicare and Medicaid. This is a deal?
Schumer's rejection of "tax reform" that was supposed to blow up the Grand Bargain never struck me as correct because, as you may recall,I never believed that tax reform was going to be part of the Grand Bargain to begin with. I thought Schumer cleverly took "tax reform" out of the discussion as a way to set up some other form of "revenue" that the both parties could pretend is meaningful --- but isn't. It would appear that's what's happening.

Anyway, old Chuck is still behaving true to form. In a way it's rather comforting. Counting on him to tank the Grand Bargain is a very disorienting proposition.

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