John, it looks like President Obama was right after all when he described the difficulty of bargaining with hostage takers: “It’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers unless the hostage gets harmed.”
But he had the wrong hostage takers in mind. House Democrats are the ones taking the Obama tax compromise and the American people hostage as they try to lard up the tax bill with billions in new goodies, which they’ll pay for by taxing dead people.
Maybe Obama will get some good advice from Bill Clinton when the two meet at the White House tomorrow. He could always send the former president up to the Hill as hostage negotiator with Pelosi & Co.