There is a very simple negotiating tactic that Obama needs to learn - and fast. It's called "the broken record". (Note this assumes one remembers a time before digital, a time of vinyl records). Remember when a scratch on the record meant that the same small part of the song got played over and over and over again.
I first became conscious of this approach when I was travelling in Asia. It was often employed by Chinese government employees when they did not want you to have something, like a room in their hotel (less work if fewer customers). They would simply repeat the same mantra over and over - "there is no room" or "Mr. Hu is not in today". Confronted with obvious evidence to the contrary (eg: Mr. Hu walking by behind them) they would simply stick to the same "Mr. Hu is not here today".
(As an aside one of the best examples of ignoring reality comes from the book "Iron and Silk", where the author, a foreign teacher in China, after having killed a rat in his class is told by his students to go to the government office with the dead rat to collect 10 cents for killing it. But at the government office they refused to pay him saying that "there are no rats in China" (the official government propaganda at the time given to foreigners) despite his holding the dead rat by the tail in front of them.)
It was enough to drive most foreigners to distraction - which seemed to be the intent as "losing one's temper" was a severe loss of face in Chinese eyes ... and foreigners could be made to lose it quite easily.
Then one day I saw the technique flipped around and watched a foreigner try it on a Chinese boss. He had gotten tired of being continually pressured into taking assignments he did not want so he decided to just kept repeating the same "I will not teach that class" over and over. Eventually for a change it was the Chinese boss that lost it. Ah-hah!
Now replace the characters in the above story with Obama and the GOP.
The GOP has continually used the broken record approach ("no tax increases", "up and down vote") even in the face of seemingly insurmountable evidence against their ideas. Yet somehow Obama and the Dems always fall for it and yield.
It is time for Obama and co to use the same approach. It will though require a temporary suspension of the use of logic and reason. This is why it is so hard for Obama and the Dems to use the approach. They feel compelled to present coherent and factually based arguments - FAIL!
So here is how it should have gone on the Bush tax cuts:
Obama: "I will not extend tax cuts for the rich." That's it ... no negotiating. No if you give me this ... Just "I will not extend tax cuts for the rich". Over and over and over and over and over again. It means being an asshole. Fine. So be it.
So here is how it should have gone in the debt ceiling debate:
Obama: a) "McConnell, Cantor, Boehner and Kyl voted 19 times to increase the debt ceiling under President Bush. To preserve America's credit rating they need to send me a clean bill - by XX." (And this should have been done before the Treasury started playing games to extend the time frame, which they should not have done.)
b) "The deficit is a real and serious problem and I look forward to working closely with the GOP to reduce it as part of the budgetary process."
As the President, Obama starts with the high ground on any issue. To willingly cede this and play on the GOP turf is insane to the extreme. He will always lose because he is playing with reason and logic against the "broken record".
It is amazing to see what happens when the leader conveys the appearance of being a bit "nuts". All of a sudden the opposition does not know how to respond. That's basically how Bush got away with so much of his stuff. It's time for Obama to start using the same technique - before it is too late (well actually it is too late .. the horse, cows, pigs, ducks and chickens have all already left the barn ... )
This whole dept ceiling episode has proven to be incredibly destructive for America's reputation. No political gain, for either side, will surpass this loss. It must not be allowed to happen again. It's time to bring out the broken records.