Appearing on Sunday’s Good Morning America on ABC, This Week host Christiane Amanpour suggested that Republican House Speaker John Boehner’s perceived victory in recent budget negotiations with President Obama could be harmful in the long run as it will "give Republicans a lot more wind in their sail" and make it more difficult for both sides to compromise on the larger portions of the budget.
Co-anchor Bianna Golodryga set up the line of thinking as she posed the question: "Since both sides avoided the backlash that would have come with the government shut down that could have potentially taught them a lesson, is there risk that they'll overplay their hand on obviously this much more controversial debate over the debt limit now heightened?"
Amanpour passed on the view by some that the recent budget deal would hinder the negotiation of future agreements: "And some people are saying that with the victory, because many people are saying that this government shutdown deal was a victory for, by and large, Speaker Boehner, that that might give the Republicans a lot more wind in their sail at a time when analysts say that it really needs bipartisan work to get some of these huge, big issues sorted out."
Below is a transcript of the relevant exchange from the Sunday, April 10, Good Morning America on ABC:
BIANNA GOLODRYGA: Since both sides avoided the backlash that would have come with the government shut down that could have potentially taught them a lesson, is there risk that they'll overplay their hand on obviously this much more controversial debate over the debt limit now heightened?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Well, look, people are saying - and as you just heard from David Kerley, that the next big showdowns are going to be over the debt ceiling and then beyond that over the budget. And many people are trying to figure out where the negotiating and posturing will be. And some people are saying that with the victory, because many people are saying that this government shutdown deal was a victory for, by and large, Speaker Boehner, that that might give the Republicans a lot more wind in their sail at a time when analysts say that it really needs bipartisan work to get some of these huge, big issues sorted out.
GOLODRYGA: And there are some experts now saying that they probably would have preferred seeing a government shutdown to kind of humble both sides. But as you just said, a lot of people are saying that Boehner and the Republican Party actually won this battle over avoiding a government shutdown. What does that mean for the Republican Party going forward. Especially the Tea Party Caucus?
