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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rambi who wrote (120589)	9/8/2009 7:02:12 PM
From: Paul Kern	Respond to of 541880

Let me say it again, since I apparently wasn't clear. When you start with absolutes, you shut down the process. It has nothing to do with what you have decided you can live with or without. You may have decided that you won't accept something ever, but when you verbalise it from the start, making it a sine qua non, you alienate the opposition and you stop the process. What you say may be true, but it's not the way to work with people toward compromise. There have been some noises about triggers for a public option, also apparently dismissed by the Pelosi crowd, but starting to be considered by some progressives. Sorry, We'll just have to agree to disagree while the insurance companies rape the country. The mistake was taking single payer off the table. Then we had nothing to bargain with and we ended up bargaining with ourselves which is always a poor way to start a negotiation.

To: Rambi who wrote (120589)	9/8/2009 7:28:34 PM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541880

When you start with absolutes, you shut down the process. It has nothing to do with what you have decided you can live with or without. You may have decided that you won't accept something ever, but when you verbalise it from the start, making it a sine qua non, you alienate the opposition and you stop the process. Actually, congressional negotiations, at least the portions that take place in public, appear to go exactly that way. Take an absolute position, assert that the republic will crash and burn if your position is not the final one, and then head for the back room to negotiate. It's the way a lot of legislators get to be the "key" vote on bills, which means they are up for deals.