Democrats Claim Support for 'Big Deal' After Criticizing It

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

Democrats who just days ago were pushing back on the potential terms for a "grand bargain" to shrink the deficit now claim they wanted that deal all along, a position they made clear after House Speaker John Boehner and fellow Republicans yanked it off the table.

Republicans who walked away from talks led by Vice President Biden last month now say negotiators should return to that framework, even though it calls for smaller cuts than they originally hailed.

Democrats who assailed the White House for putting entitlements on the table in pursuit of a major deficit-reduction package tsk-tsked Republicans over the weekend for setting their sights on something lower.

The shifting rhetoric on both sides of the aisle underscores how unsteady and confusing the talks are, with many lawmakers declining to say publicly what it would take to make a deal.

What it all comes down to may just be re-election.

On Monday, President Obama said he's "willing to move" in Republicans' direction as long as the GOP gives a little bit. He also acknowledged his own party's stubbornness about compromise.

"There's going to be resistance. There is, frankly, resistance on my side to do anything on entitlements. There is strong resistance on the Republican side to do anything on revenues. But if each side takes a maximalist position, if each side wants 100 percent of what its, you know, ideological predispositions are, then we can't get anything done," Obama said.

He then tossed in that he wants to work with House Speaker John Boehner but Boehner is facing a rank-and-file that is "rewarded for saying irresponsible things."

Speaking on a radio show Monday, Boehner agreed that it comes down to getting out of the political realm.

"The president is in re-election mode and as a result that's where a lot of this rhetoric comes from. I’ve told the president, and I've asked him, I said, 'Mr. President, let's forget about the next election. You forget about yours and I’ll forget about mine. And let's get serious about doing the right thing for the country,'" Boehner told The Laura Ingraham show.
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The Democrats were against a deal before they were for it...