Speaker John Boehner did a brilliant job of negotiating the fiscal year 2011 budget deal that was reached less than two hours before the Friday deadline. Jennifer Rubin at her Right Turn Washington Post blog understood the shrewdness of his bargaining position. While many commentators were saying that Boehner was foolish to risk shutting down the government in order to defund Planned Parenthood in one of the riders he was seeking, Rubin recognizes that, this is how you get the best deal: Democrats need to ‘buy’ the rider with more cuts or take the rider and leave the cuts where they are.

The way negotiators phrase this is, ‘There’s no deal on any issue unless there is a deal on all issues.’ And guess what? That’s what Boehner has been saying nearly every day. (Take my word for it, this is no different than negotiations with the Directors Guild, the Screen Actors Guild or any entertainment-industry union that I sat across the table from for years and years.)”