Politics Disad – Jackson-Vanik

Concessions Key to Agenda

Concessions key to the agenda—Republicans will jump on board

Lichtman ‘10 – Prof of American Political History @ American University.

(Allan, Professor of American Political History, American University. “Analysis of Obama's First State of the Union Address”. January 28, 2010. http://fpc.state.gov/136240.htm)

You said that the Republican party has its own strategy to continue to oppose President Obama’s political agenda. In that circumstances, is it a good thing for President Obama to make some concessions? I mean that if he continues to make some concessions and the Republican party will continue to oppose and try to defeat him, I think it only contributed to the losing support from the labor party. So he has no political ground to depend on. Dr. Lichtman: That’s always the dilemma, obviously, for any leader. To what extent do you shore up your base and to what extent do you reach out to the opposition and to those in the middle? I think we saw last night a bit of a strategy of making concessions and reaching out. His proposals on the economy. Some of which were fairly far-reaching, and obviously things Republicans will not support like moving to alternative energy, investment in high speed trains, and things of that nature. But there was a lot in there that Republicans, if they wanted to, could support. Tax credits for small businesses, putting some of the Wall Street money into community banks, capital gains tax reductions. Those are things you’ve heard Republicans in fat talk about. So by doing that I think he’s essentially trying to achieve two things. One, maybe on some of these things Republicans will come around and they’ll actually have some accomplishments to go to the electorate with in 2010, and there is a bit of a pressure there. On the one hand, implacable opposition may serve the Republican party in general, but there are individual Republican Members of the House and Senate who have to go before the electorate in November, and maybe they want some accomplishments. So that’s one thing he might be angling for. The other thing is if the Republicans oppose such moderate proposals which seem to have at least according to the snap polls overwhelming support from the American people he’d be in a better position to paint the Republicans as the party of obstruction and delay.

Obama’s concessions key to the agenda.

Schorr ‘9

(Daniel Schorr, Senior News Analyst, National Public Radio, Obama's First 100 Days, April 22, 2009. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103377163)

The Obama record so far presents a mixed picture. There has not been much progress on his goal of changing the way Washington works, neutralizing the lobbyists, or assembling a reliable bipartisan coalition. But by adroit concessions when necessary, he has managed to achieve important legislation, notably the multi-billion dollar stimulus package. Faced with possible defeat, he managed to make concessions that chipped away three Republican senators.

AT: Concessions Key to Agenda

Concessions won’t work—Republicans will pocket them

Alternet News Magazine ‘10

(“Why America is Starting to Burn: Political Gridlock and Violent Insurrection”. March 11, 2010. http://blogs.alternet.org/theghost/2010/03/11/why-america-is-starting-to-burn-political-gridlock-and-violent-insurrection/)

The American people as a whole have far less esoteric political concerns than the environmental destruction of Appalachia, but they seem to share my feelings of despair and hopelessness over the issues that matter most to them. On every topic of relevance to the average, everyday American citizen – especially health care reform and the economy – there has been almost no movement from our perpetually deadlocked government. It has become such a regular ritual that the script for it is a cliche-ridden as any big budget summer blockbuster. Whatever the issue of the moment is, the Republicans in Congress will shriek and moan about deficits and socialism. President Obama will try to act statesmanlike and above the fray, while Democrats in Congress will try to appease their colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Then, once the concessions are made, the Republicans will stop cooperating and the Democrats will be left scratching their heads as to why their friends refuse to play nice with them. To official Washington this is all game. It has lengthy written rules but comes with an unofficial strategy guide that tells players how to get the most points – er, votes and campaign contributions – by using lobbyists and the media to maximum effect. And through the ability of lawmakers to become lobbyists themselves, or to sign up with corporate America afterwords, it’s rarely “game over” even when they lose. The rest of us, those who need health insurance or who were dependent upon the continued unemployment benefits that Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) decided he wanted to block, have no guarantee of a second chance.

Won’t work- Republicans will pocket them.

Borosage ‘9

(Robert Borosage, The Price of Consensus: Obama and Congressional Republicans, January 7, 2009, http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009010207/price-consensus-obama-and-congressional-republicans)

Politically, Obama's generosity is unlikely to be rewarded. The congressional Republican caucus is more conservative and clueless than ever. They will see Obama's preemptive concessions as weakness, not generosity. They are already pocketing them and asking for more. Boehner is grousing about "the size of the package." Mitch McConnell responded by calling for more tax cuts and peddling the lunatic notion that rather than providing grants to states and localities to avoid massive layoffs—perhaps the most effective dollar-for-dollar spending that we can do in terms of saving jobs—the federal government should loan them the money instead. Republicans don't want unemployment insurance to go to part-time workers, and oppose paying for health care for those who have been laid off. They are pushing for permanent reductions in capital gains and income tax rates for—imagine our surprise—business and the highest-income earners. These are the very ideas that helped get us into this hole.

.