Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps?: Bob Woodward of the Washington Post Writes Fishwrap Edition
Ezra Klein:
On the sequester, the American people ‘moved the goalposts’: I don’t agree with my colleague Bob Woodward, who says the Obama administration is “moving the goalposts” when they insist on a sequester replacement that includes revenues…. [I]n 2011… everyone was perfectly clear that Democrats were going to pursue tax increases in any sequester replacement, and Republicans were going to oppose tax increases in any sequester replacement. What no one knew was who would win….
The sequester was a punt. The point was to give both sides a face-saving way to raise the debt ceiling…. The hope was that… something would… change… the supercommittee…[would come] to a deal… [or] the 2012 election [would resolve things]….
[In 2012] the American people voted for the guy who wants to cut the deficit by increasing taxes…. They also voted for a Senate that would cut the deficit by increasing taxes. And then they voted for a House that would cut the deficit by increasing taxes, though due to the quirks of congressional districts, they didn’t get one….
[T]he goalposts in American politics aren’t set in backroom deals between politicians. They’re set in elections. And in the 2012 election, the American people were very clear on where they wanted the goalposts moved to.
