National negotiations between Democrats and Republicans are about to begin in earnest. Some Republicans seem to be willing to ignore the will of the voters concerning tax rates of the wealthy. For me that posture brings to mind a negotiation between the US military and a major defense company contractor.
The contract was over the pricing and delivery times for a product that only this major vendor had the pattern. It is called single source negotiations. The US military negotiator was a seasoned veteran to this process. The contractor’s negotiator was much younger but very intelligent. He knew the Navy had to use his company’s product. The young negotiator pointed this out to the seasoned Navy man.
The seasoned negotiator opened a folder that was in front of him on the table. He slid it across the table to the young-gun. In the folder was a list of over sixty items that the Navy purchased from this major defense contractor. While the young man perused it, the seasoned negotiator pointed out that there were multiple suppliers for those products, and the Navy could go to anyone of its choosing!
House Republicans remind me of this young-gun. They are treating the high-end tax rate as a single source item, without evaluating the bigger picture. Let me clarify my view. After December 31st, the president gets the higher rate, despite the House Republicans. Many other major budget items remain in a state of flux.
Defense might end up with a much smaller budget than these Republicans are expecting. Some high cost items may be cut, or totally eliminated. Perhaps some of that money might be transferred to labor intensive infra-structure projects. A bigger bang for the buck, pun intended.
Cuts could hit some congressmen’s districts harder than others. The initial infra-structure projects might favor other districts or states. The point I am making here is this; control of the misery index and who feels it, for good or bad, favors the Democrats. An outraged middle class that just got jolted with a higher tax rate, compliments of the young-guns, will be melting the media lines to denounce them. Maybe it will be determined that an additional two percent tax increase will be required form the nation’s wealthiest. Kenny Rogers sang it; no when to hold them and know when to fold them.