Washington Negotiations Miss the Point

Anonymous CJ contributes the following:


One of the interesting experiences of my life was negotiating with a Middle East rug merchant. These people have a routine all their own. On one of our visits to Istanbul, DG and I engaged in such negotiations with a Turkish rug merchant and wound up buying several thousand dollars worth of rugs.

Without going into great detail, one of the features of a rug merchant is that he will take back deals previously offered. Therefore, it is important always to keep changing the deal during the negotiation. This is easily done by enlarging the size of the deal or purchase. One principle common to all negotiations is that a good deal is struck if both sides win.

Having said that, the negotiations going on in Washington, DC have all the characteristics of bargaining with a rug merchant. Obama is clearly the rug merchant and keeps reneging on former agreements. Speaker Boehner keeps trying to increase the size of the deal. The serious problem in this case is the definition of winners and losers. There is little prospect that the country will win regardless of the outcome because the critical matter facing our country is the rapidly growing national debt. That issue is not being addressed at all.

Think about it. Do we elect our representatives to score political points or to legislate policies that will foster economic growth?