Rep. Steve King (R., Iowa), who describes himself as a “strong, strong lean no” on the Boehner plan, suggests that an irrational fear of default is driving members to support the plan.”This is a stampede based on a false premise,” King told NRO. “I will not be stampeded on a false premise.”
a "strong strong LEAN no?" Could any statement describe fecklessness better?
That's the funniest thing I've read all week!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseJust called my GOP congressman and urged him to vote NO. His office said he hadn't made up his mind yet. According to the office rep; calls were 9-1 against the Boehner plan.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFunny thing: My congressman's office is reporting the same ratio of calls.
Or maybe not so funny: My congressman is a liberal Democrat.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseA No vote is a vote for Harry Reid
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSure the default is a "false premise." But there is a "real" premise out there: a US credit downgrade. Unless a significant debt-reduction package passes, we WILL be downgraded, even if the debt limit is increased. The lack of a deal is the same as a "clean" increase w/o any spending cuts to the credit agencies: it means Washington is fundamentally unserious about reducing its spending. And that includes people boasting about how fundamentally serious their conservative principles are who refuse to vote for the best deal possible because they want a perfect deal. A downgrade will cost actual money, which is exactly what you ideological purists purport to want to save.
There is a good chance even the Boehner bill won't stave off the downgrade, but it is 100% certain that the lack of any deal, even if there is no "default," WILL result in a downgrade -- which "principled conservatives" will be responsible for in the minds of the 2012 independent voters who will decide whether to return Bozo the President to office. If you want to be ideologically pure, don't run for office. If you run for office, your principles have to take a backseat to the good of the country (and, in this case, its credit rating). Take the best you can actually get and keep working. Half a loaf is better than none.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDowngrade is going to happen anyway, and the deficit is going to rise exponentially as a function of rising interest rates.
The Boehner plan does nothing whatsoever to stop the downgrade or the reduce the deficit in any meaningful way.
I'd would more than happy with "Half a Loaf". But the only cuts guaranteed in the Boehner plan is $22B. The rest are just smoke and mirrors.
$22B is a measly 1.3% of the deficit and less than barely 0.5% of the Budget. Hardly "half a loaf".
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis is spot on. If the Boehner bill passes, Obama has no way to blame the GOP for a ratings downgrade, which may happen anyway, and general economic malaise. If the Boehner bill passes and nothing is done, Republicans will co-own the economy and Obama's path to re-election is made easier. We can only do so much with just the House. Let's declare victory here, win 2012, and then go for the real solution when we've got all the levers of power.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAccording to at least one ratings agency, a downgrade will happen unless a deal is struck that reduces spending by $4 trillion. By your own argument, we should refuse to support any plan that does not reduce spending by $4 trillion. QED.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAy caramba, someone tell this guy that Obama and the Dems will send him a big thank you card for ruining the GOP's best shot at winning this debt ceiling debacle.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLooks like he's begging to be offered something to LEAN the other way. In any case, guys like King who presumabky favor cut, cap and balance even if the ship goes down should be required to explain how there will be 67 votes for a BBA in a Dem controlled Senate, today, or for that matter, 67 votes in 2013 or 2015.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBut the one big elephant in the room is what will the GOP do if the DEM Senate votes down Boehner's bill? What then? Does the GOP say, "You've got our plan. Take it or leave it." (Unlike CCB) Or does Boehner go back to the caucus and start negotiating some hybrid version of the Boehner/Reid bill?
I hear the echos of "I told you so..."
Just sayin ...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBingo, you've got it...this is all posturing. Once this bill is passed by the House, the game of ping-pong begins and the final product will be far worse than the Boehner bill.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, yes, yes. You are absolutely right. This is what I have been thinking.
The House should have just stuck with CCB and let Reid put forth his own bill.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, all the "smart people" telling us we have to vote for the Boehner bill. All these Tea Party freshmen who said no to a debt ceiling increase, now easily being pushed around by the establishment crowd. You keep talking about "winning" this. How is raising the debt by more than $2 trillion winning anything. This is not a game. It's not just another political contest. It's 1995/96 Contract With America and Bob and Newt caving to Bill all over again, only the stakes are much higher now.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseReaders here might be interested in the full post over at LI, here's an excerpt, I agree with this writer
"I don’t care whether you’re rabidly pro- or anti-Obama, a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent or a Green or none of the above. What S&P and the other CRAs are doing right now is completely illegal and outside the boundaries of their own codes of conduct. They’re acting as Wall Street’s tasers in Shock Doctrine 2.0, and making themselves the key player in determining what happens not only with the 2012 election but with the world’s economic future. They are playing a very dangerous game with the world economy that could have devastating consequences for all of us, regardless of what your partisan identification is."
External Link
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf I were a GOP Congressmen in the House, I wouldn't give Boehner my vote till he cut me a check (or had a lobbyist do it). He already set that precedent with the prescription drug bill. Isn't anyone suspicious about Alan West and Mike Kelly's sudden enthusiasm in light of Boehner's history of buying votes on the floor of the House?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBoehner has to get his bill passed. It is obvious from the Dem Blue Dogs + Reid + Schumer opposing this bill that this is what they are afraid of.
Senate rules require 60 votes. Reid doesn't have anywhere near 60 votes for his bill. So the GOP senate will amend the Boehner bill; and the entire dysfunctional disaster will be held hostage in the Senate, not the House.
Reid will get the blame and will have to cave. GOP, come to your senses, do not steal defeat from the jaws of victory. Pass Boehner. This is not the time for purity; this is the time for shrewd hardball.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhen, exactly, is the time for "purity?"
This is the problem with governance by poll and politics in general. You end up with a ready-to-cut-to-pcs "compromise" from the supposed Conservatives in the chamber.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseStop the opponent's advance now.
Win the game when the whole team is on the field.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLet me get this straight, Boehner's getting his people to vote twice for a debt limit increase, the same people who vowed not to increase it, and you guys see this as a win for the Republicans and a loss for the Democrats? Boehner's guaranteeing that the issue of raising the debt limit is an issue that the Republicans won't be able to use because they'll have voted for it twice in less than a year.
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