Like many middle aged men, I love sports.
For years I've competed against other like minded individuals in rotisserie baseball leagues. Annually, a group of us will review statistical trends of hundreds of players, read scouting reports on the hot prospects coming up and try to assemble a better team than the other league members can. We'll check how our players are doing whenever possible. Our cell phones come in real handy. A few of us have mastered the art of pulling up the MLB.com website to check the scores/stats without even taking the phone out of our pockets. We take it very seriously and its up there with sex and eating for enjoyment.
Its very normal for a General Manager to decide he needs some of what another team has. Maybe its a starting pitcher. Perhaps a shortstop. Usually, but not always, that GM will look to other teams who have an abundance of starting pitchers or shortstops and try to figure out what they could use. Let's say they need a catcher, (Everybody in fantasy baseball needs a catcher) and I have an extra one who is better than the ones they currently have. Voila! A win-win. Time to send a trade email!
To: John Boehner-GM of the Republican Rattlers
Barry here from the Democratic Dazzlers. I'm looking for help at pitcher and noticed you have some pretty talented guys on your bench. I, on the other hand, have Mr. Muscles, a catcher sitting on mine because I already have Mr. Universe in my lineup. I can send Muscles your way if you could let me have Bazooka arm Bob to help my pitching. Let me know...
John will now weigh the advantages vs. the disadvantages of making this deal. Sometimes, its so reasonable and fair that its a fairly quick yes. Little to no haggling. Other times, its not so easy. Some guys low ball their offers from the start to give them wiggle room to graciously upgrade their offer during further negotiations. Some guys always ask for more no matter how generous the original offer was. (I call them the "...and your Mother" guys.) A better player, a draft pick, cash, etc... Sometimes the offer is just so far out of left field, you just reject it immediately. If its really dumb, you make a mental note to be wary of this certain GM's future offers.
Its not unlike the dance that the Democrats and the GOP are doing currently with the budget talks. The Dems want to increase money coming into the Government and are luke warm to reducing spending. The Republicans want to reduce spending and are very luke warm to the notion of increasing revenues. Both want to reduce the deficit. If this were fantasy baseball the Dems would be flexible on cutting spending while the GOP would show flexibility on increasing revenues. Some acceptable middle ground would be hammered out to their mutual benefit.
The interwebs this morning are running stories about the Obama Administration/Dems showing a willingness to cut two of the biggest entitlement programs, Medicare and Medicaid to the tune of more than 100 Billion dollars over the next ten years. In all, the total amount of reduced spending is projected to be 3-4 trillion dollars if the GOP will meet them part way. That by itself will come with a price tag within the Democratic voting population who often can't accept any cuts to these entitlements. Obama seems prepared to deal with that. Its a rational step. Its a serious offer. In return, the Administration wants some thing equally appealing coming its way. Except that it wouldn't be equal. They're willing to accept roughly just $1 in revenues for every $3 dollars of cuts they provide.
Three for one is a pretty serious offer and a fair one. Spending should be expected to carry a larger portion of the load than new taxes might be. Reign in the spending, get serious about reducing waste and fraud and yes cut out some of the silly tax loopholes that are costing the Government much needed revenues. See how far that gets us and then build your case if you can for increasing taxes.
If this were fantasy baseball, you might think the Dems are overpaying or the GOP is underpaying considering the return. When a trade goes through that's so unbalanced, the rest of the league shakes its collective head. We also file it away for future reference...
The budget talks aren't supposed to be a game. Seems to me that the Dems are being serious about taking meaningful steps to address the problem. Are the Republicans holding out for even more? Reasonable people agree spending needs cut, no question. They also think deals and negotiations...even in Congress...and perhaps especially in Congress...should show good faith and skin in the game from both sides.
To: Barry Obama-GM of the Democratic Dazzlers
Looked over your offer and its unacceptable. We want both Muscles and Universe coming our way. We can use one as our designated hitter. If you accept our demands, we're willing to send you Willie Noarmleff. Sure he's struggled a tad this year but we're confident he'd fit your needs. To keep it fair, we'll also toss in our current catcher, Chubby "Big" Mack to help you out.
Deal?
JB/Rattlers
C'mon guys....yes both of you Dems and GOP-sters...
Play ball!
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