The Madman Budget Strategy

E.J. Dionne, The New Republic
WASHINGTON -- Richard Nixon espoused what he called "the madman theory." It's a negotiating approach that induces the other side to believe you are capable of dangerously irrational actions and leads it to back down to avoid the wreckage your rage might let loose.House Republicans are pursuing their own madman theory in budget negotiations, with a clever twist: Speaker John Boehner is casting himself as the reasonable man fully prepared to reach a deal to avoid a government shutdown. But he also has to satisfy a band of "wild-eyed bomb-throwing freshmen," as he...

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/03/07/the_madman_budget_strategy.html

Chris Ruddy Jim DeMint Frank Luntz Jeff Flake