The Party of Medicare
On the Sean Hannity radio program this afternoon, Speaker-presumptive John Boehner was interestingly cautious about promising actually to do anything in the new Congress.
But there was one thing Boehner did specifically pledge: Republicans would call a vote on restoring President Obama's cuts to Medicare.
It's a clever move!
How can Democrats vote no? But how can they vote yes?
At the same time, it's also a warning of what is to come. You don't call a vote like that if you are seriously planning to balance the budget. You do it if your priority is to entrap your opponents into paralyzing political predicaments. This is what gridlock looks like: tactical maneuvers, point scoring - and a continuing intensification of all the problems, including the debt, that the parties claim they wish to fix.