Freshman Rep. Bobby Schilling of Illinois, who rode the Tea Party wave into office, told NBC’s Meet the Press this morning that despite recent spending squabbles, he is, in fact, “satisfied” with House GOP leadership. “The thing that’s nice about the leadership is that they are giving us a voice,” he said. “I’m pretty happy with it.” For Schilling, who recently pledged to not be a Boehner clone, it was quite the olive branch.
On entitlements, Schilling defended the House GOP’s approach to dealing with long-term budget liabilities. “This is going to be done in phases,” he said. “I believe, truly, that everything is on the table, across the board.” But he would not offer specifics, except “I am not going to commit to raising the age of Social Security.”