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Government shutdown: How to end Republican extremism

The government is shuttered and the nation is on the verge of defaulting on its debts. But public opinion has turned sharply against the Republican Party, Reich writes, and the GOP鈥檚 corporate and Wall Street backers are threatening to de-fund it. 

Now is the time to lance the boil of Republican extremism once and for all.聽

Since Barack Obama became president, the extremists who have taken over the Republican Party have escalated their demands every time he鈥檚 caved, using the entire government of the United States as their bargaining chit. 聽

In 2010 he agreed to extend all of the Bush tax cuts through the end of 2012. Were they satisfied? Of course not.聽

In the summer of 2011, goaded by an influx of Tea Partiers, they demanded huge spending cuts in return for raising the debt ceiling. In response, the President offered an overly-generous $4 trillion 鈥淕rand Bargain,鈥� including cuts in Social Security and Medicare and whopping cuts in domestic spending (bringing it to its lowest level as a share of gross domestic product in over half a century). 聽

Were Republicans content? No. When they demanded more, Obama agreed to a Super Committee to find bigger cuts, and if the Super Committee failed, a 鈥渟equester鈥� that would automatically and indiscriminately slice everything in the federal budget except Social Security and Medicare.聽

Not even Obama鈥檚 re-election put a damper on their increasing demands. By the end of 2012, they insisted that the Bush tax cuts be permanently extended or the nation would go over the 鈥渇iscal cliff.鈥� Once again, Obama caved, agreeing to permanently extend the Bush tax cuts for incomes up to $400,000.

Early this year, after the sequester went into effect, Republicans demanded even bigger spending cuts. Obama offered more cuts in Medicare and a 鈥渃hained CPI鈥� to reduce Social Security payments, in exchange for Republican concessions on taxes.

Refusing the offer, and seemingly delirious with their power to hold the nation hostage, they demanded that the Affordable Care Act be repealed as a condition for funding the government and again raising the debt ceiling.聽

This time, though, Obama didn鈥檛 cave 鈥� at least, not yet.聽

The government is shuttered and the nation is on the verge of defaulting on its debts. But public opinion has turned sharply against the Republican Party. And the GOP鈥檚 corporate and Wall Street backers are threatening to de-fund it.聽

Suddenly the Republicans are acting like the school-yard bully who terrorized the playground but finally got punched in the face. They鈥檙e in shock. They鈥檙e humiliated. They鈥檙e trying to come up with ways of saving face.

With bloodied nose, House Republicans are running home. They鈥檝e聽abruptly turned negotiations over to their Senate colleagues.

And just as suddenly, their demand to repeal or delay the Affordable Care Act has vanished. (An聽聽from the group Tea Party Express says: 鈥淎re you like us wondering where the fight against Obamacare went?鈥�)聽At a lunch meeting in the Capitol, Senator John McCain asked a roomful of Republican senators if they still believed it was possible to reverse parts of the program. According to聽聽on the meeting, no one raised a hand 鈥� not even Ted Cruz.

It appears that negotiations over the federal budget deficit are about to begin once again, and presumably Senate Republicans will insist that Obama and the Democrats give way on taxes and spending in exchange for reopening the government and raising the debt ceiling for at least another year.聽

But keeping the government running and paying the nation鈥檚 bills should never have been bargaining chits in the first place, and the President and Democrats shouldn鈥檛 begin to negotiate over future budgets until they鈥檙e taken off the table.

The question is how thoroughly President Obama has learned that extortionist demands escalate if you give in to them.