New Gingrich on the Obama approach to the ESP

Just watched one-time Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich on George Stephanopoulos/This Week.  Newt says the Obama administration could have either tried to be bipartisan and worked with the Republicans in making the ESP, or be partisan and say "we don't need the GOP" - but not the "zig-zagging" between the two.

First, I don't see where the Obama administration has zig-zagged its way between strategies.  Second, a bipartisan bill was what the Obama administration wanted - but it was the fault of Republicans that this didn't work out.  Republicans wanted the same old failed strategies of the past eight years - tax cuts and more tax cuts*.  It takes two to tango; intransigent Republicans didn't want a bipartisan bill, they wanted a Republican bill passed by a Democratic President.  The Obama administration had no choice but to face this reality, and accept it.

*Particularly, as Newt pointed out, cuts in Social Security and Medicare taxes, programs which the Republicans have wanted to gut forever.