Obama jobs proposal won’t pass in one piece, Kerry says

[Inuca]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/obama-jobs-proposal-wont-pass-in-one-piece-kerry-says/2011/09/13/gIQATCrAQK_blog.html

Nothing earth shattering, but worth a look.

“I don’t think anybody expects it to pass en bloc,” Kerry told reporters Tuesday afternoon after the Senate Democrats’s weekly policy luncheon. “So, the issue is going to be what, if any, parts of it might be cherry-picked. And really that depends a lot on the overall mix of the negotiation.”

“Well, I don’t know if it will, honestly,” Kerry said when asked whether the committee would take up parts of the jobs package. “To be truthful with you, I can’t tell you that there’s an appetite among a lot of the Republicans for large parts of it. And I can’t tell you yet; I can’t begin dissecting it. So, I’m not going to speculate publicly.”

He also said that the committee and the president must serve different roles when it comes to the jobs proposal.

“I think the president has to fight for a plan. ... But we’re in a different negotiating position on this committee,” Kerry said. “And I don’t want to lock myself or the committee or any of us into a place where we are increasing partisanship. We have to minimize the partisanship, and so the president has to do what he needs to do; we have to do what we need to do.”

[Luftmensch067]

1. Sensible and realistic as always

This is how American politics is set up and he's clear-eyed about it. He can't speculate when they're only just beginning negotiations, that's not how negotiating works. I don't know what will come out of this committee, but we're DAMN lucky we have a grownup in the room.