Legislative negotiations are rarely recognized for kind words exchanged between parties, and that’s no coincidence. Bloomberg News White House reporter Jonathan Allen joined HuffPost Live host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani to explain how the civility we often wish to see in politics can backfire for the politicians who choose to act with it.
“It’s not in terms of legislation, but when Gabrielle Giffords was shot … the September 11 attacks … there are moments where we can see our government come together at least for brief periods of time,” Allen said. “In terms of legislation, I think the big budget deals over the last few years are perfect examples of where the leaders have gotten together to avert disaster and then walked out and slammed each other … So I think we’ve seen a little bit of both, but we live in an era where there are a lot of people saying a lot of incendiary things.”
