Obama’s evolution: Behind the failed ‘grand bargain’ on the debt (Referenced on Rush Today)

President Obama had just arrived home, walking across Lafayette Square after attending Sunday services with his family at St. John’s Church. In the West Wing, Obama ducked into the spacious office of his chief of staff, where he found his negotiating team huddled with two leading Republicans and a passel of aides.

To the outside world, it looked like a do-nothing summer Sunday, a disturbingly quiet reminder of government dysfunction. The prevailing theme on the weekly political talk shows was things falling apart. In two weeks, the government would be unable to pay its bills. Where were the administration and congressional leaders who might work out a compromise to avert the looming disaster? No meetings were taking place at the White House that day, one network host said.

The reality was quite different. Around 11 a.m. July 17, John A. Boehner, the House speaker, and Eric Cantor, the majority leader, had slipped through a side entrance, out of view from the bank of television cameras stationed near the front gate off Pennsylvania Avenue. The on-and-off secret negotiations were on again. They had resumed with a Friday meeting at the Capitol. And they seemed to be going so well by the time Obama returned from church that he invited Boehner and Cantor into the Oval Office to talk, just the three of them.

The sermon the president had heard that morning was a stirring Old Testament account of Jacob dreaming of a ladder that stretched to heaven. Sometimes, the pastor had said, “the best adventures occur when we venture into unmarked terrain.” Obama was in a similar frame of mind. Against the vehement advice of many Democrats, including some of his own advisers, Obama was pursuing a compromise with his ideological opponents, a “grand bargain” that would move into unmarked territory,

On that Sunday in July, Boehner, the old-school pol from Ohio, seemed willing to hash it out. He had met in private with the president and his aides many times. Their sessions were so sensitive — especially for the speaker, who was dealing with a House teeming with tea party rebels — that Obama’s aides were under strict orders to “protect Boehner” and not talk about his private entreaties. Obama liked Boehner; they got along well during the private sessions and a round of golf. But there was doubt in the White House as to whether the speaker could bring his party along. He “probably could not deliver a pizza,” was one administration aide’s skeptical assessment.

Cantor, a Virginian, was more closely aligned with the tea party wing. The fact that he was there, and had been involved since Friday, however reluctantly, was taken by the White House as an encouraging sign.

The tea party conservatives, who dominated the group of new House Republicans that gave the GOP a majority in the 2010 elections, were hellbent on preventing Obama from raising the legal limit on government borrowing — known as the debt ceiling — without deep spending cuts and a radical restructuring of expensive health and retirement programs. While its members had elevated Boehner to the speaker’s office, the tea party caucus, critical of Obama’s political agenda and elected to stop it, also proved to be Boehner’s biggest political challenge.

Notice that in these latest budget talks with the Reps, Cantor was excluded. Also, the Dems continue to demonize the Tea Party at every opportunity. They fear it more than anything else. It is one reason why they set up OWS, a truly manufactured, astroturfed organization.

With Reid holding the bag in the Senate and Obama owning the press, Boehner and Cantor never had a chance to make anything happen that would be Tea Party approved.

Because of the disunity, the dems know that the R house have no real power compared to theirs.

Keep in mind, Obama IS TRYING TO DESTROY THE COUNTRY! Hello?!?!?! Had Boehner let the debt limit breach, then Obama would have free-hand to completely unstring the economic foundations of the country and build it back in his socialist image.

Boehner and McConnell know this and I think are just trying to keep the ship afloat until a new captain can turn it around.

But there’s too many Tea Partiers and Paultards who agree with Obama that we ought to let old Columbia collapse and see what happens.

The Phoenix ain’t ever been described as a beautiful bird, you know.

But there’s too many Tea Partiers and Paultards who agree with Obama that we ought to let old Columbia collapse and see what happens.

As a Tea Party member involved with our 40,000 member strong state organization, you don't have a clue about what the Tea Party stands for or wants. The idea that we want this country to collapse is an insult and a vile canard.

Boehner and McConnell know this and I think are just trying to keep the ship afloat until a new captain can turn it around.

Boehner and McConnell are part of the problem, not the solution. The Reps had control over Congress and the WH for six years and did nothing to roll back the welfare state or spending. The current dynamic duo are establishment Reps who would rather compromise than stand on principle. They lose every time they negotiate with the Dems. I am particularly frustrated with Boehner and his blocking of immigration bills from coming to the House floor for fear of angering Hispanics. I have firsthand and personal knowledge of that. It is a disgrace.

But there’s too many Tea Partiers and Paultards who agree

"there's too many who agree" does not equal "they all agree"

Read. Comprehend. Repeat.

Now try this one. There's too many conservatives trying to run people off who agree with them.

I finall got a a moment to read the article. I noted this from the piece "For years, Democrats have mocked the Republican argument that tax cuts pay for themselves by boosting the economy, an assertion for which evidence is scant. Many independent budget experts say the effect, if it exists, would be almost impossible to measure and useless in crafting a budget. Fiscal “snake oil,” some Democrats say." --- Uhhh, yeah, you only have it working under Coolidge, JFK, Reagan and W. Bush, until the Clinton sub prime mess hit and collapsed the economy. So how it is impossible to measure? You cut marginal tax rates and every time you do the economy soars. But that's "scant" evidence. You have more evidence supply side works than you do Keynesian economics works by far.

How many are "too many?" What are you basing your information on? The idea that any member of the Tea Party wants this country to collapse is sheer nonsense. Those are Dem talking points. They have been demonizing the Tea Party from day one as extremists and radicals.

Now try this one. There's too many conservatives trying to run people off who agree with them.

There you go again with your "too many." Run them off from where? And why would a conservative try to run people off who agree with them? I assume that you don't consider yourself a conservative.

The only “purge” I see is the Establishment wing of the GOP (read RINOs) trying to marginalize conservatives except at election time. The Tea Party put the GOP back in charge of the House, yet the House leadership has excluded the Tea Party Congressmen from leadership positions. It is a travesty and will eventually lead to a third party. The conservatives are the ones who are being purged.

yet the House leadership has excluded the Tea Party Congressmen from leadership positions.

Freshmen are rarely if ever given leadership positions. Most don't want them. They're too busy trying to get their feet under them trying to figure out their new jobs, trying to get their offices up and running, finding a place to live, learning their districts, etc. It's going to be a very rare instance where a freshman will be allowed to jump the seniority line to take a Committee chairmanship or another leadership position. It would almost have to be as a result of a game-changing party switch for something like that to happen, where one person changes which party is in the majority by switching. They may hand out the occassional deputy whip position to a freshman, but even that won't happen often. Too many toes would be stepped on to move a freshman into a leadership or Committee chair position--and they're frankly just too inexperienced to know how to function effectively in those roles. Maybe you'll think that's a dumb way of doing things--but that's how it works and there's some reason to it. Don't worry, the class of 2010 will move into leadership positions in the years to come. But the fact they don't have them yet isn't really anything to ding the GOP House leaders over.

Bachmann, who formed the Tea Party caucus and is the chairman, is not a freshman nor is Steve King. You seem to think that only freshman are Tea Party congressmen. Not so. All 66 of its members are members of the Republican Party. Three of them are part of the Republican leadership. Thomas E. Price serves as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, making him the seventh ranking Republican in the House, John R. Carter is the Secretary of the House Republican Conference, ranking him the ninth ranking Republican, and Pete Sessions is the number six Republican as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Steve King used to be the ranking member on the Immigration subcommittee, but he was passed over in favor of Elton Gallegly when the GOP took over. On the Senate side, Jim Demint and David Vitter have been excluded from leadership positions.

The implication of the post I replied to was that it was the Tea Party freshmen getting elected who helped get the GOP the majority back and that they’ve been excluded from the leadership. I read the remark as applying to freshmen. As for Tea Party leadership in the House, no one is more Tea Party than Paul Ryan and he’s chairman of the House Budget Committee. And one hell of a good one.

Ryan is not Tea Party. He voted for TARP. He is not a member of the Tea Party caucus.

The caucus chair is Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Of a total possible 435 Representatives, as of March 31, 2011 the committee has 62 members, all Republicans.[15]

Sandy Adams, Florida
Robert Aderholt, Alabama
Todd Akin, Missouri
Rodney Alexander, Louisiana
Michele Bachmann, Minnesota, Chair
Roscoe Bartlett, Maryland
Joe Barton, Texas
Gus Bilirakis, Florida
Rob Bishop, Utah
Diane Black, Tennessee
Michael C. Burgess, Texas
Paul Broun, Georgia
Dan Burton, Indiana
John Carter, Texas
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
Howard Coble, North Carolina
Mike Coffman, Colorado
Chip Cravaack, Minnesota
Ander Crenshaw, Florida
John Culberson, Texas
Jeff Duncan, South Carolina
Blake Farenthold, Texas
Stephen Fincher, Tennessee
John Fleming, Louisiana
Trent Franks, Arizona
Phil Gingrey, Georgia
Louie Gohmert, Texas
Vicky Hartzler, Missouri
Wally Herger, California
Tim Huelskamp, Kansas
Lynn Jenkins, Kansas
Steve King, Iowa
Doug Lamborn, Colorado
Jeff Landry, Louisiana
Blaine Luetkemeyer, Missouri
Kenny Marchant, Texas
Tom McClintock, California
David McKinley, West Virginia
Gary Miller, California
Mick Mulvaney, South Carolina
Randy Neugebauer, Texas
Rich Nugent, Florida
Ron Paul, Texas
Steve Pearce, New Mexico
Mike Pence, Indiana
Ted Poe, Texas
Tom Price, Georgia
Denny Rehberg, Montana
Phil Roe, Tennessee
Dennis Ross, Florida
Ed Royce, California
Steve Scalise, Louisiana
Tim Scott, South Carolina
Pete Sessions, Texas
Adrian Smith, Nebraska
Lamar Smith, Texas
Cliff Stearns, Florida
Tim Walberg, Michigan
Joe Walsh, Illinois
Allen West, Florida
Lynn Westmoreland, Georgia
Joe Wilson, South Carolina

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