Posted on 10/15/2013 11:31:30 AM PDT by cotton1706
Lurking at the very bottom of Conn's summary of the House's (final?) counter-offer to the Senate is this intriguing nugget:
If the bill passes, House Republicans may adjourn leaving Senate Democrats and President Obama with a final take-it-or-leave-it offer. First, "if the bill passes" is an open question, though it's sounding like House Republicans have mostly rallied around the Speaker's plan. They opened their meeting this morning by singing "Amazing Grace," then telegraphed their next volley. Whether they have the votes to pass it without any Democratic support -- Pelosi will likely whip hard against it -- remains to be seen. But if it passes, might Boehner gavel the House closed, with members leaving town? Ramesh Ponnuru hears rumors:
This would be a highly risky take-it-or-leave-it strategy. The GOP would argue that they gave Senate Democrats everything they asked for in their latest deal, but added a delay of a job killing tax that 79 Senators have already voted to repeal altogether, as well as a somewhat stripped-down Vitter Amendment. This would force members of Congress, but not staffers, to forego the president's special subsidy carve-out. The bottom-line message: "We've agreed to Harry Reid's plan, plus a few small additions that the American people support. We've bent over backwards to accommodate the other side. We've done our jobs. And we're outta here." That...might work. But it also might add to the (largely unfair) perception that Republicans are the obstinate, unflinching actors in this crisis. Harry Reid is likely to say "stuff it" to the House-passed bill -- if it passes. That's been his consistent position on almost everything, no matter how reasonable. If we hit the technical default wall with Republicans effectively AWOL, I'm not so sure those optics would work well during the ensuing, intense blame-game. Especially since the drumbeat GOP critique of Democrats over the last few weeks has been that Obama & Co are unwilling to negotiate. At the moment, nothing is certain. Votes and coalitions are fluid. And the clock is ticking. Stay tuned.
UPDATE - A concession from Democrats? A tax delay that would have benefited Big Labor might be gone on the Senate side:
UPDATE II -The GOP may be (surprise!) divided on the "leave town" gambit:
UPDATE III - White House rejects the deal. Does Boehner even have the votes?
GOP leadership may be re-writing their counter-deal already, under pressure from conservatives. Shades of the "Plan B" fiscal cliff fiasco, which eventually resulted in a worse outcome for conservatives.
UPDATE IV - Reid angrily rejects the House GOP plan (such as it exists), even though it's not that different from his own. Chuck Todd:
This whole thing is stupid. There is basically no real difference that matters in either of these proposals. They are arguing over drape colors in a burning house.
At this point, just pass something, kick the can and take it to the American People and win more seats.
The House bill is basically the same bill, they aren’t arguing over anything that is going to make a difference compared to trillions of dollars of debt.
It would be one thing if there were huge gulfs in the bills, but there isn’t.
This last squabble, is, literally, pointless.
Article 2
Section 3.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union,
and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them,
and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment,
he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors
and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed,
and shall commission all the officers of the United States.
You're right. You'd think they could find a strategist somewhere with a clue.
Luke 9:3-5
New King James Version (NKJV)
3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.
4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”
The sooner they get home and listen to us, the better.
2) Democrats show up and unanimously "deem" that a quorum is present.
3) They pass Obama's agenda.
4) Reid exercises nuclear option and quickly passes the bill in the Senate.
5) Obama signs it, and tells Boehner "It's done. Whatcha gonna do about it, beoch?"
Hary Reid may find his “No Negotiations” rallying cry coming back to haunt him.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.Don't bet Obama would not re-convene the House and send armed officers to hunt down the Repubs and fetch them.
The TEA Party pressure on the process simply comes from the will of the People. You and me plus many others.
Well they have been sending bills bover ecause they were scared Reid would say they are doing nothing and spending bills originate in House etc.
The root proble is not whether they sat and waited or submitted bills and waited but rather their lack of an effective communications plan. The pubs are always on defense and never know how to express outrage and attack the other side.
I like it!
I know I have been applying pressure to mine and others...thankful they are at least fighting. Still think there is more going on..like perhaps many know the pres is unbalanced at the least and evil at the most.
I remember the Democrats in Wisconsin leaving town when the union legislation was in play to avoid a vote, and they hid from the Sergeant at arms to avoid being dragged back.
Why can’t Republicans do what the Democrats dis in Wisconsin?
By the way, Wisconsin has a budget surplus “Larger than expected.!”
Tell them:
“Take our deal or live on our income only....which we should be doing in the first place.”
True. Time for them to step aside and let the Tea Party take over.
Both.
If true, this is actually some good news. Time to let dingy hairy and His Petulance speak to the hand for once.
“It’s not a great idea. It’s a PR disaster.”
Whatever the gop conservatives do, it will be used against them in the media (a wholly owned subsidiary of Hope N Change, Inc.). If you’re damned for doing the right thing and damned for doing the wrong thing, you might as well do the right thing.
See 14 above. The Senate hasn’t, inspite of all the blow coming from Reid, actually rejected anything. Each of the House-passed budget measures has been tabled in the Senate which means Reid could eventually pick out the one he likes -—on a weekend-—and slip it to the floor for a vote. The Senate can’t make up its own budget measures and send them to the House because that’s a rule.
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