Politico...
Vice President Joe
Biden rustles up another gang
By Carrie Budoff Brown & Meredith Shiner
They are the Washington ideal: “gangs” of Democrats and Republicans who
call off the ideological knife fights long enough to work on resolving
the big issue of the day.
And at the Blair House on Thursday morning, Vice President Joe Biden
will try it once again, bringing together two Republicans and four
Democrats in hopes of striking a deal on deficit reduction.
But as yet another group convenes, the notion that a bipartisan gang
will reach a grand compromise where all others have failed appears as
outdated in the hyperpartisan Capitol as a horse and buggy.
The gang on health care reform stalled out. Bipartisan talks last year
on climate change, Wall Street reform and immigration dissolved.
Another Biden-led working group on tax cuts, organized with fanfare
last December, was little more than a head fake while President Barack
Obama and congressional leaders struck a deal. The White House fiscal
commission fell short.
The Gang of Six also appears in limbo, as the ideologically diverse
group of senators working on a deficit-cutting framework shows signs of
strain.
These groups start with high hopes and a chorus of media cheerleaders —
and, in some cases, do the crucial legwork for an eventual deal — but
they inevitably run up against leadership resistance, bruised egos and
outside pressures. The grim track record suggests that the first thing
aspiring dealmakers should do is reject the “gang” label.
“There is no buy-in by other people,” said Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions,
the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, who doesn’t have a seat
in either the Gang of Six talks or Biden’s group. “It’s just their
group.”
Expectations for the Biden group are particularly low. For starters,
congressional leaders brushed off Obama’s request to appoint eight
Democrats and eight Republicans.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) named only his chief deputy,
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), while Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) did the same, tapping Minority Whip Jon Kyl
(R-Ariz.). They are expected to refuse any revenue increases, which
Democrats will insist upon.
The Democratic appointees wouldn’t make any deficit hawk’s dream team.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana voted against
the White House fiscal commission’s report, and Senate Appropriations
Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye of Hawaii is the self-proclaimed “king
of pork.” Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen is the ranking member on the
Budget Committee. South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn is a centrist
dealmaker. Neither is a known leader on deficit issues.
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