Posted on 07/30/2011 1:15:39 PM PDT by Signalman
By Dick Morris And Eileen McGann 07.30.2011
In the parlance of Washington, the Democrats are going to get the upper hand in the final round of the debt debate. Republicans will succeed in making a vast cut in federal spending, unimaginable before the 2010 election and will block any tax increases. Democrats will get an extension of the debt limit until after the election so as to avoid dragging Obama through this process again.
But the damage this debate has inflicted on the Obama Presidency is so deep and profound that it will have played a large part in dooming his re-election chances. The injury to his popularity from the debt debate is far greater than the addition to his popularity he realized after killing bin Laden.
Here’s what will unfold in Washington:
Step One: Reid and McConnell will craft a deal calling for larger so-called budget cuts (they’ll count the fictitious spending cuts achieved by avoiding foreign wars not now contemplated) and they will extend the debt limit until after the election. McConnell will exact some language whereby Obama has to ask for the additional borrowing authority but it will require a two-thirds vote to deny it to him. There will be a bi-partisan committee to craft further savings, but nobody will pay much attention to its results, certainly not Obama.
Step Two: The Reid-McConnell compromise will pass the Senate with five or six defections by Democrats up for re-election and a dozen or two additions from non-tea party Republicans.
Step Three: House Republicans will raise hell and refuse to pass the Senate bill. Boehner will make a show of persuading them and then, finally, confronted by the “deadline” artificially ginned up by the president, he will permit it to pass with strong Democratic support. A majority — or close to it — of his own party will vote no.
Outcome: Obama will get credit for raising the debt limit. Republican conservatives will be able to say they voted no. Boehner will keep his credibility because he got a pure debt limit bill passed only with GOP votes before he crossed the aisle for final passage.
But the real outcome will be to have brought Obama’s job approval down from its bin Laden high of 55% to a new Gallup low of 40%. That is ground he won’t be able to make up. And, put through the rigors of tension and uncertainly, the economy will sink further into a double dip recession. A recession brought on, in large part, by Obama’s crying wolf over the debt limit and creating an environment of financial and economic terror around its passage.
Republicans proved they can govern by passing their one-house debt limit increase. Their fiscal conservative credentials are intact. And Obama looks, once more, like a weak and easily cowed incompetent to his backers and a big spending and borrowing liberal to the rest of us.
Game to Obama. Set and Match to the GOP.
Cannot recall who it was that insisted that insanity is chooding a non-existent lesser of evils over and over and over...
I’ve been watching our “rulers” insist that the best way to get out of debt is to spend more.
I hope that most of my fellow Americans also saw that.
It's not too late! You can still get your copy from Amazon. It's currently number 1,099,112 in books ;)
http://www.amazon.com/Condi-vs-Hillary-Great-Presidential/dp/0060839139
Nice...very nice.
The senators are going to be hard to get rid of.
They have access to massive campaign funds and are experts at attack ads. They have many allies in the mainstream media.
But the hardest thing to overcome is that they are tricky and they all stick together. I hate the game where they protect the senators who are up for re-election and let the ones who just got re-elected do the talking and voting. The Tea Party is on to it, but they are experts at fooling the general public.
.
And our problem is that we don’t stick together. This was amply illustrated last week, when we could have gotten a few propaganda victories and moved the debate forward a bit...but instead, a few individuals, probably motivated by Ron Paul, wanted to grandstand. They ultimately ended up getting a meaningless but face-saving measure into it and then passing it on a Friday, well after we could have gotten any positive traction for doing anything about the problem...but after a week of the press depicting the GOP as a bunch of treacherous, back-biting loonies (which I must admit was how it seemed).
We have to have a plan and we ALL have to go for it. That’s the secret of Dem success.
And there should be no way that the traitors in the Senate, Snow, Collins and Scott (actually, I think there’s another one, but I don’t remember him/her) should be allowed to get away with their consistent voting for the Dems and still be allowed to call themselves Republicans.
The issue is what the Legislative and Executive branches of government are going to do to avoid a down-rating of the USA credit from AAA.
In Europe, Greece is being told by the EU and IMF to sell its government owned railroads, airports, and other things and use the cash to pay down past debt. It is also being told to cut pension and benefits of government workers and to farm-out or outsource many government jobs.
Will the US Congress (House & Senate) finally get the picture that if they really want ObamaCare, maybe they have to sell wilderness areas and allow mining and oil exploration to gain lease money? Priorities need to be debated on basic spending and on how to get the economy going. Both parties are too busy rearranging the Titanic deckchairs associated with debt ceilings and false discussions of default than deal with the real issues.
How sad.
The Republicans have won the debate. Before July, many unplugged Americans had no clue about what was the debt ceiling. Now they have nightmares about being trapped in a house and the flood waters (debt) having them pinned up on the ceiling with six inches of airspace. They have won the debate about the seriousness of the problem and they have worked for a solution while the DemonRATs have given no solution.
The next ideological battle is the idea that the Bush tax cuts do not work. While the economy has fallen deeper into dysfunction, we have still had the Bush tax cuts. Why have not the tax cuts worked? Could it be that the stimulus plan failed? Could it be that Keynesian economics fails every time it is tried? Once American understand this concept, American will have nightmares about DemonRATs spreading rat droppings all over the banquet table of prosperity.
GeronL,
The debt limit WILL be increased.
It will work til after the 2012 election.
NOTHING in Gub mint will truely be cut.
They ALL look like uncooth spoiled children.
But you think the pubbies are winning???
If that is what you believe that is what you get.
Why?
I’d rather the republicans ALL get beat in primaries by TEA Party Conservatives.
Bout freaken tired of dem and dem lite.
I think conservatives are right and that people are seeing that more and more.
I could care less about the GOP at this point.
Ref. post #16.
You are a retarded ass.
This problem happened in 1996...15 years ago.
He and his wife made up and are doing just fine.
Grow up!!! We are now in 2011.
Republicans will succeed in making a vast cut in federal spending”
Oh, really?
don’t bet on it dick, gop is dissing the wrong people and T’ing them off. if you as a gov’t won’t keep your pledges to the Military which is only 1% of the population, you won’t keep it to the other 99%! you will note BOTH parties have their finger prints on this backroom deal.
Republican Budget Cuts 1.3 Million Veterans from VA Medical Care
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.php/whats-new/2279-tom-philpott
Obama gutting the Military
http://townhall.com/columnists/luritadoan/2011/07/25/obamas_intent_to_gut_the_military
VFW email
Thank you for your inquiry. It’s true that military benefits have been targeted to help balance the budget, however, the attacks are actually coming from both sides of the aisle, with Republicans and Democrats both suggesting steep cuts to personnel programs.
The VFW is also very aware of the back room dealings attempting to address the debt crisis, and we’re working to ensure that the nation’s budget is not balanced on the backs of her veterans. Within the last week, the VFW has identified 10 specific benefits that have been targeted by Congress for cuts to help pay the nation’s bills after 10 years of war, which we call the “10 for 10” plan. With this in mind, we rolled out a call-to-action today to inform legislators that “10 for 10” is a morally unconscionable and unacceptable solution. Veterans paid for these benefits by making a commitment to our nation that 99 percent of Americans are unwilling to make. They have already sacrificed repeatedly over the last 10 years in an effort to preserve our nation’s ideals. It is simply wrong to ask for more. You can read the call-to-action and learn how to help in this effort at the link below:
THIS IS A MUST READ LIST OF CUTS sick Vets in the 7 & 8 group are targeted.
http://www.vfw.org/News-and-Events/Articles/STOP-CONGRESS-FROM-PASSING-AMERICA-S-DEBT-ONTO-VETERANS/
As an Alaskan I am offended that you did not include my RINO Senator in this list.
Ah, yes...Murkowski. Consider her added.
I knew there was somebody I was forgetting.
Dick is sometimes right on his thoughts. But wrong on predictions. He predicted that Christine O’Donnell would get elected and that the GOP would take the Senate. He lost and if I recall he had to pay a bet on The factor. But I quit watching that stuff.
Why the hell is this upside down...is McConnell retarded? Shouldn't it be a 2/3 vote to approve an increase?
NOTHING in Gub mint will truely be cut.
How about if we elect more TEApublicans and reboot to Y2K spending levels? (or better yet...1963)
“Galling, infuriating & most likely true! I just pray there’s a GOP left by November 2012!”
The GOP will continue to financially and morally bankrupt the country and grow government. They are the worst possible choice in 2012. Except for the Democrats.
God, protect us from the ever-compromising Republicans.
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