THE QUESTION
Republicans and the budget: When to compromise?
In approaching the coming Congressional budget battle, House Republican leaders have decided to forsake the bipartisan center and bow to the spending-cut demands of the most conservative members of their caucus. This mirrors the strategy of House Democratic leaders who, in the previous session, accommodated the demands of their most liberal members on key issues, only to lose power in the next election. Is it more effective for leaders to demonstrate a willingness to compromise early on, or to stake out a hard line in the hope of compromising less later?
Posted by Steve Pearlstein and Raju Narisetti on February 14, 2011 1:32 PM
FROM THE PANEL
The tumor in this nation's belly
In a normal situation, compromise is the answer--but not in this case, not in the short-term. Compromise on the current budget may create some wins, but it could risk...
Posted by Robert Goodwin, on February 18, 2011 2:08 PM
Ready to rumble?
The "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" tradition may not be the most palatable, but it works...
Posted by Juana Bordas, on February 16, 2011 2:44 PM
Compromise is an ideal, not a reality
For the Republicans to compromise at this early stage of the game would be to make no real progress according to their own views of what needs to happen...
Posted by Rice University Undergraduate Leaders, on February 16, 2011 2:30 PM
The danger of political showmanship
The kind of positional bargaining so prevalent in Congress right now doesn't generate more options...
Posted by Katherine Tyler Scott, on February 16, 2011 2:22 PM
This is not the time to compromise
There is no valid parallel between the outset of the Obama Administration in 2009 and the opening positions of the Republican House this year...
Posted by Slade Gorton, on February 15, 2011 2:22 PM
Servant leadership in politics
From a leadership perspective, there is little long-term benefit to be gained by hard-line politics, which in essence positions the leader to cling to...
Posted by Alaina Love, on February 15, 2011 12:44 PM
Prepare the caucus for letdown
Staking out a hard line at the beginning will either give the most conservative Republicans false hopes or box in the Republican House leaders when the time for compromise comes. Either is bad news...
Posted by Marty Linsky, on February 15, 2011 12:41 PM
In negotiation, don't give away too much
I don't think of it as "a hard line": I think of it as each side openly stating its desired outcome and then...
Posted by Mickey Edwards, on February 15, 2011 12:37 PM
Compromise: Strength, weakness or a way of the past?
Compromise often results in someone feeling as though they gave up too much or received too little. Leaders do not have the room for these results...
Posted by Coro Fellows, on February 15, 2011 11:19 AM
The difference between compromise and negotiation
Politicians might learn something from management and labor negotiators. While both sides may talk tough, seldom does rhetoric...
Posted by John Baldoni, on February 15, 2011 9:46 AM
