Guarantee Government Shutdown: Don't Negotiate

Both sides in the current budget crisis guarantee a shutdown when they refuse to negotiate. They also inspire this question: What kind of lawyer refuses to negotiate even when they are getting paid to negotiate?

Barack Obama received a JD from Harvard Law School; his wife also holds a JD from Harvard Law School.

By contrast, John Boehner holds a BA from Xavier University. "He is also the first Speaker [of the House] who has served both as majority and minority floor leader for his party since Texas Democrat Sam Rayburn ," according to Wikipedia.

Matching tit for tat, Harry Reid is not only Senate Majority Leader, but also served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip, again according to Wikipedia. Furthermore, Senator Reid earned a JD at George Washington University Law School.

Given the negotiating skills of these individuals, how is it they regularly refuse to converse? Back stories may tell the real story. As Wikipedia adds: "He [Reid] went to George Washington University Law School earning a J.D.while working for the United States Capitol Police."

Indeed, the farther back research goes in Reid's and Boehner's life histories, the more interesting their backgrounds prove. Wikipedia informs readers that "Reid's boyhood home was a shack with no indoor toilet, hot water or telephone," and Boehner "started working at his family's bar at age 8, a business founded by their grandfather Andy Boehner in 1938 "

The real question may be: With whom do Harvard lawyers hang out? Whom do they represent? And, when they do talk, is everybody expected to take notes? Surely, somewhere along their educational track, wasn't there a seminar with this title: How to Talk to the Rest of the World, when it's your turn, and nobody cares anymore if you went to Harvard?