Mika asked Buchanan this morning why, putting aside the Republicans’ constituency, “why Republicans can’t give in some way, shape or form on taxes?” The reason Pres. Obama can’t get a deal with Republicans?

“It’s not only politics, it is principle and philosophy. They think it’s the wrong way to go. .. You don’t do it simply because someone says wouldn’t it be nice if we both gave something.” – Patrick J. Buchanan on “Morning Joe”

Republicans have principle and are wedded to their philosophy, Democrats are not, with Pres. Obama playing negotiator in chief with his own party and foundational principles.

This is by design.

The President is doing what he wants, getting the deal he wants, carving a path beyond political principles or philosophy, neither of which he’s interested in.

“The “hobbits” won.” – Mark Thiessen

This is what happens when the man in the White House doesn’t have the leadership character for the job.

As for all those analysts, including a lot of progressives and new media sites, who tried to stuff the Tea Party in the racist bin thinking that would be enough, you have been humiliated by the small government crew that was at the foundation of what became an astroturf movement the media glommed on to, while Democrats actually believed they weren’t for real.

Corporate wingnut titans can funnel money into a movement, but if they don’t have front men and women with principle who’ll go down for the cause it hardly matters. Yes, there are racists in the Tea Party, no doubt about it, but by overplaying the theme while amateurs railed against Washington, Democrats and progressives missed the movement’s power by a mile. The carnage left today is the result.

It all began with Sarah Palin, which progressives and new media sites ignored or vilified. Her power has risen and she’s finally fallen, but through health care and the 2010 election, no person was more powerful or impacted the Tea Party presence more than Sarah, allowing them to take center stage in Washington and accomplish the defeat of progressive economics, because their opponent, Pres. Obama, wasn’t up to the job.

Having a pretty spokes model has worked before and the Democrats were no more prepared for Palin and the Tea Party than they were for Ronald Reagan. Democrats and progressives should just count their lucky stars that Palin is gone and Michele Bachmann’s lack of maleness makes her an untenable choice for the GOP boys’ club who seem to be hoping the televangelist huckster Rick Perry can do it for them, as Mitt Romney faces a whole new set of very real challenges to his candidacy. Pres. Obama may be the Democratic poison political pill, but he’d beat Perry in a walk.

With Fox News Channel behind the Tea Party, just like they did during the Bush era, Republicans and the mighty Right, however wrong their policies, have pummeled the Democratic party and progressives into submission, at least for the moment, through the rise of Obamanomics.

So, it’s time to give credit where it’s due and it’s not to political analysts like Lawrence O’Donnell who not only blew the McConnell call, but also his analysis on Obama, while huffing and puffing for 20 minutes every night in his opener and saying absolutely nothing worth remembering today.

Obamanomics is here and the country is stuck with it; an orphaned idea hollowly culled from Republicanism that ignores jobs and growth for cuts, cuts, cuts, while discounting that it’s the middle class and “working stiffs” who fuel demand that inspires corporations to create jobs in the first place.

The Tea Party played Pres. Obama and the Democratic party for the craven, purposeless, unmotivated political class they are; a group of individuals who stand for nothing but promoting celebrity over philosophical muscle that may not be perfect, but has at its heart the welfare of the people above all.

While the details of the debt ceiling deal remain fuzzy, this much is clear: Barack Obama may be president, but the Tea Party is now running Washington. – Peter Beinert

Shooting for another accomplishment, if the reporting is correct, Pres. Obama expects his “broader deal” bravery to impress Independents, while Democrats nod seriously saying, “It had to be done.” As for what Republicans will give in return, “Aides to Mr. Boehner said that no tax increases were on the table and that he had not agreed to the expiration of any tax cuts.”

Lori Montgomery reporting:

As part of his pitch, Obama is proposing significant reductions in Medicare spending and for the first time is offering to tackle the rising cost of Social Security, according to people in both parties with knowledge of the proposal. The move marks a major shift for the White House and could present a direct challenge to Democratic lawmakers who have vowed to protect health and retirement benefits from the assault on government spending.

“Obviously, there will be some Democrats who don’t believe we need to do entitlement reform. But there seems to be some hunger to do something of some significance,” said a Democratic official familiar with the administration’s thinking. “These moments come along at most once a decade. And it would be a real mistake if we let it pass us by.”

Another instrument of Obamanomics that will bring a fundamental shift away from Democratic Party principles and philosophy that can never be recovered once gone.

No one can say I didn’t warn you, going back to 2007, with this tease offered recently to get the uninitiated prepared.

“With Social Security, it’s just a matter of tweaking how it currently works.” – Pres. Obama

Ah, yes, tweaking. You can almost here the applause, followed by utterances of “Pres. Obama’s so moderate.”

Confirmation from the New York Times:

The president’s renewed efforts follow what knowledgeable officials said was an overture from Mr. Boehner, who met secretly with Mr. Obama last weekend, to consider as much as $1 trillion in unspecified new revenues as part of an overhaul of tax laws in exchange for an agreement that made substantial spending cuts, including in such social programs as Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security — programs that had been off the table.

Pres. Obama’s rightward shift has set up a situation that allows him a chance to play for history. If he succeeds, with Social Security becoming part of the debt ceiling deal, can’t you already imagine Pres. Obama being hailed for doing it? The traditional media will fall over themselves to praise his seriousness. He will also have out played Paul Ryan on audacious idiocy.

In November 2008, the conservatives were gasping for air. Pres. Obama has become the wind beneath their wings.

As for the New Deal Democratic Party, say goodnight, Gracie.

Times are tough these days, so it’s not surprising that some divorced fathers are having tough times paying child support. But when you’re an outspoken austerity, cut, cap and balance bloviator, the news of allegations that Joe Walsh is a dead beat dad is at least a bit ironic. From the Sun Times:

Freshman U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a tax-bashing Tea Party champion who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility, owes more than $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife and three children, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December. […]

Walsh admits he is not wealthy. Some of his financial problems — including losing his Evanston condo to foreclosure — were documented before his out-of-nowhere victory last fall in the 8th Congressional District in Chicago’s north and northwest suburbs.

But court documents examined this week by the Chicago Sun-Times during research for a profile on the increasingly visible congressman showed his financial issues also included a nine-year child support battle with his ex-wife.

Before getting elected, he had told Laura Walsh that because he was out of work or between jobs, he could not make child support payments. […]