Quote of the Day

"The idea that the President can necessarily bend Congress to his will is indeed a “dream.” It doesn’t reckon with the most fundamental question at the heart of all of this: What if there is nothing whatsoever that can be done by the president or anyone else to break the GOP out of its no-compromising stance? This isn’t an unreasonable reading of the situation; it’s what Republicans themselves have confirmed, publicly and on the record — they will not concede a penny in new revenues, no matter what. And if this is the case — if the fundamental problem is that Republicans really do prefer the sequester to any compromise — isn’t it incumbent on commentators to explain this clearly and forthrightly to their readers?" -- Greg Sargent in the formerly great Washington Post Kaplan Daily today. A number of progressive commentators have pushed back on the Woodwards/Fourniers/Brookses of the commentariat who persist in seeing Rethuglican obstruction as susceptible to the President's leadership, when in fact nothing -- nothing -- he could do short of giving them 100% of their demands would succeed.