I've read this from time to time, from people riffing on the same theme, courtesy of The Godfather, Part 2: "My offer is this, Senator: nothing."
It has never been more fitting than now, dealing with GOP intransigence, as they put their love of their own power over the well-being of the country's citizenry, as they put ideology on a pedestal they usually reserve for sneering references to things they declare to be elitist.
Were I the advisor to the White House, or to the Senate leadership, this would be my mantra: our offer is this, and nothing more.
Everyone seems to have forgotten one jingoistic entry into our U-S-A, U-S-A shouting: we do not negotiate with terrorists. The GOP has become, for lack of a better term for their group, terrorists. They have no interest in compromise, nor do they ever negotiate in good faith. It is impossible to have an adult conversation with people who insist on behaving like petulant two year olds who are not getting their way.
Our offer is this, and nothing more.
Let the GOP vote it down. As a business owner with actual, real employees, I'm not thrilled at the changes this will make to my employees' paychecks. I'm not happy that the proffered deal has a higher baseline than the original $250K limit, although the latter has the potential to raise my own taxes. As an adult, I understand the price that has to paid to live in a civilized nation.
But our offer is this, and nothing more.
Let the GOP own it. Let them be faced once more by their constituents asking why they continue to take the welfare of the country at large and their own constituents in particular hostage again and again, creating a Congress that is simultaneously the least productive and the most dysfunctional it has ever been. Let them wind themselves into pretzels trying to rationalize the positions they take because they swore fealty to someone like Grover Norquist and allowed that to take precedence over their oath of office. Let them face the consequences of their actions, played out in full view of the entire country, as the next election season arrives. Let them own it: the people of the country already hold them responsible, as poll after poll after poll has shown.
Let the GOP finally grasp that there is a spine to be found in the Democratic party. Let the GOP hear this, by standing firm instead of bending once more to accommodate the things they want which do no good for this nation.
Our offer is this, and nothing more.
