---
[ ARCHIVE ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive)
# How Do the Republicans Save Face?
April 04 2013
Written by Digby.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
JUST SAYIN’ - [Jonathan Chait](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/04/siren-eric-cantor-will-consider-higher-taxes.html) flagged [this quote ](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/us/politics/midterm-elections-unlikely-to-alter-party-balance.html?pagewanted=2&hpw&_r=0)from Eric Cantor today and came up with an interesting theory as to why he said it:
*Mr. Cantor complained that the president, while insisting on additional tax increases, still has not embraced the structural changes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security that he says are needed to strike a deficit reduction deal.
Even on the divisive tax issue, however, Mr. Cantor can sometimes sound as if he is leaving a door open. If Mr. Obama shows he is “serious about fixing the problem,” he said, “then we’ll see” about additional taxes.
(When pressed on the point, Mr. Cantor returned to his familiar position that the House would not back higher taxes.)*
Chait thinks this might explain why the Republicans have been bizarrely insisting that the President has refused to cut the "entitlements" despite his repeated offers to do so --- it's a sort of self-serving delusion that they are "making him do it" so they can justify making a deal. Otherwise, if they did come to agreement, they'd have entirely capitulated and they just can't do that. Not after their bruising loss in the election and their agreement to allow some of the Bush tax cuts to expire when they swore they never would.
This makes sense to me. By calling for the "balanced approach" up front, the administration gave the Republicans no way to save face. The administration probably thought they were just creating a campaign slogan at the time (and that, if it came to it, the sequester and fiscal cliff threats would bring them to heel.) Now, the sequester is upon us and in order to agree to a Grand Bargain, the GOP is stuck trying to pretend they've "forced" the president to agree to entitlement cuts --- and it just isn't very convincing.
Now, I suppose it's *possible* that the White House did all this to ensure that the Republicans wouldn't come to the table, but that means they really wanted these sequester cuts, which I kind of doubt. The Grand Bargain has always been their stated goal. So this whole thing is the result of a series of negotiating blunders that has us inflicting austerity on the economy at a very bad time --- with the prospect of austerity for the most vulnerable populations far into the future being the only alternative on offer.
The question is if the Republicans can figure out a way to pretend to their people that they got something out of this deal. The President hasn't left them much room, so it's going to take some creativity. Unfortunately, I'm going to guess that the only way they'll be able to get there is for the president to first negotiate with himself to cut "entitlements" *even more* and raise revenue even less so they can tell themselves they got something out of the deal.
Everyone says he won't do that no matter what, so that's good.
*(Digby is the pseudonym of progressive political blogger Heather Parton from Santa Monica, California who founded the blog Hullabaloo… where this commentary first appeared.) *-cw**
*CityWatch*
*Vol 11 Issue 28*
*Pub: Apr 5, 2013*
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/115 "Brian Goldsmith Vertical R. Col")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/114 "McKinney Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Email
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
### [Prosecutor, Democrat, City Attorney? McKinney Makes His Case to Los Angeles Voters](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
ELECTION 2026 - The race for LA City Attorney has been laced with political accusations and allegations that when close…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
### [The LA Watchdog’s 2026 Voter Guide](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
LA WATCHDOG - My recommendations are influenced by the need for truly balanced budgets, fiscal responsibility, long ter…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
### [The Fools’ Blame Game](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
THE VIEW FROM HERE - Angelenos do not use elections to plot a wiser course of conduct for Los Angeles, but rather they…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
### [California Film Tax Credits Aren’t Enough. The Guilds Need to Change Too.](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
LONNIE’S VIEW - California used to be the center of the movie and television universe. If you wanted to make movies, yo…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
### [Here’s What Zionism’s Got To Do With It](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
ICAN - The anonymous website “BHUSD Watch” recently published a long, detailed article about the current BHUSD board an…
---
## [ ARCHIVE ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/15339-early-intervention-and-jobs-are-key-to-stemming-chronic-homelessness-in-los-angeles)### [Early Intervention and Jobs are Key to Stemming Chronic Homelessness in Los Angeles](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/15339-early-intervention-and-jobs-are-key-to-stemming-chronic-homelessness-in-los-angeles)
### [Tucker Carlson and Gay Rightwinger Blame California Wildfires On Hiring LGBTQ People](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/18755-tucker-carlson-and-gay-rightwinger-blame-california-wildfires-on-hiring-lgbtq-people)
### [Anti-LGBTQ Veep Just Can’t Stop Talking about Mayor Pete](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/17690-anti-lgbtq-veep-just-can-t-stop-talking-about-mayor-pete)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/15316-news-pulse-corrupt-system-reason-for-not-voting-in-2018-majority-wants-more-than-two-parties)### [NEWS PULSE: ‘Corrupt System’ Reason for Not Voting in 2018 … Majority Wants More Than Two Parties](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/15316-news-pulse-corrupt-system-reason-for-not-voting-in-2018-majority-wants-more-than-two-parties)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/10245-dead-dog-set-on-fire-sparks-fears-for-strays-in-los-angeles)### [Dead Dog Set on Fire … Sparks Fears for Strays in Los Angeles](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/10245-dead-dog-set-on-fire-sparks-fears-for-strays-in-los-angeles)