Krugman's Cliff Notes

The NYT columnist's Monday column looks at Obama's negotiating strategy vs. the GOPers on budget deal, which the Republicans seems to soundly reject today.    Tough shit, sez Paul. 

In the ongoing battle of the budget, President Obama has done something very cruel. Declaring that this time he won’t negotiate with himself, he has refused to lay out a proposal reflecting what he thinks Republicans want. Instead, he has demanded that Republicans themselves say, explicitly, what they want. And guess what: They can’t or won’t do it....

And there’s a reason for this reticence. The fact is that Republican posturing on the deficit has always been a con game, a play on the innumeracy of voters and reporters. Now Mr. Obama has demanded that the G.O.P. put up or shut up — and the response is an aggrieved mumble.

And here's the Times main news story tonight with much the same message on Obama refusing to give in--this time, at last, etc.

Greg Mitchell is the author of more than a dozen books (see right rail of this blog).  His latest, on the Obama-Romney battle, is "Tricks, Lies, and Videotape."