negotiation

So the newest rumors about the fiscal cliff have been leaked to Ezra Klein and Paul Krugman, who comments on them on his blog today.  He says:

Those cuts are a very bad thing, although there will supposedly be some protection for low-income seniors. But the cuts are not nearly as bad as raising the Medicare age, for two reasons: the structure of the program remains intact, and unlike the Medicare age thing, they wouldn’t be totally devastating for hundreds of thousands of people, just somewhat painful for a much larger group. 

 Link here.

It's the old Washington two-step:  Float an absolutely unacceptable idea.  Then, when the outcry from your supporters has hit its peak, put forward a proposal that's merely horrible and call it a win.  Now watch the Democrats swallow it and smile. Read below the fold...

This year's international climate change conference begins tomorrow, November 26, in Doha, Qatar. With much of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol expiring in December and the world on track for a six degree Celsius (eleven Fahrenheit) temperature rise, a new climate change treaty is being negotiated to be signed in 2015 and to take effect in 2020. Read below the fold...

When I was young the United States had some liberals of courage in the Senate. People like Estes Kefauver, Paul Douglas, Hubert H. Humphrey, Herbert Lehman, Wayne Morse, Richard L. Neuberger, Maurine B. Neuberger, Eugene McCarthy, Mike Mansfield, Ernest Gruening, Pat McNamara, Phil Hart, Frank Church, George McGovern, Albert Gore, Sr., Ralph Yarborough, Warren Magnuson, and William Proxmire. These liberals could be counted on to go to the mat for most liberal causes. They said what they meant, and meant what they said. They compromised. Read below the fold...