I have been reading various diaries here as well as other political sites, and what I am coming away with is that the blame is mostly put on the wrong people. The vitriol against Obama, Boehner, Cantor, Reid, etc is almost all misappropriated. It seems as progressives forget that Obama has to govern all of the people, not just the 20% that are very liberal, and Boehner can only go as far as his base will allow him. He can agree to whatever he wants, but he risks loosing any ability to garner votes if he goes too far away from his base. There are other reasons we don't and may not have a deal...
Before I go into the reasons I think we can't get a deal, I'd like to point out that I think the idea of a debt ceiling is redundant. Congress already authorized the spending, so why should it have to again. Yes, it is supposed to be a rubber stamp, but no rubber stamp will always remain as such. This should teach us not to have these sorts of triggers in our system. Hopefully, we can reform this after the next election. Having said that, I am a fiscal conservative, and I hope that some good comes from this in reducing our debt. I agree with the decreased spending and increased revenue approach, and would ease it in as to not have too much of an effect on our economy.
The Republican position in this debate is irrational and without merit, but it is dictated by the activist base in the Republican party, not by Boehner, Cantor, and company. This is where political skill is needed by someone so that we can govern. Clearly Obama has zero political capital when it comes to Tea Party types. He also spent most of his political capital with dependents on this issue when he voted against increasing the debt ceiling in 2006. Of course it isn't the same thing, but it does present a serious credibility problem. And the Republican's are ruled by Grover Norquist and the Tea Party. Boehner and Cantor couldn't pass an acceptable bill even if they wanted to as the base would lynch them before they had a chance to call up a vote. Perhaps if there was someone in leadership who has consistently run as a moderate, they could fight the good fight, but there is no one like that in the Republican party (We could really use Arlen Spector right now).
The Republicans are the only ones that are negotiating from a position of strength. They really can't give in. Think about it, Boehner has so little control of his party , that there is nothing he could do or say to convince his colleagues to vote his way unless it fits the tea party mold. The Tea Party base is holding the debt cieling as a hostage, not Boehner. He is just their mouthpiece right now. If the Democrats would have seen this coming earlier, perhaps they could have done more to help bolster Boehner among other republicans, but even if that were so, it is way too late now. The only choices Democrats have is to give in or allow default and hope the Republicans are blamed.
All of this leads us to ask, "how did we get here, and how do we proceed?" It seems to me that it is a perfect storm of distrust of professional politicians that has been festering ever since Watergate and the increased power of "grass roots" movements like the tea party, aided by rw media outlets and the internet. The Tea Party is not really grass roots of course, but it does have alot of grass roots type adherents. The problem is these people are fed a steady diet of Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Fox, etc. I don't know the answers to this problem, except to say that I hope and pray that someone with real influence will see the light and tell the truth. That would be leadership, and nothing short of real leadership from the right will solve this problem. In the long term, we need a conservative movement that challenges the current policies of the Republican party. I don't see anything out there right now though. Everything could change if we default, and maybe for the better.