Posted on 07/12/2011 9:25:29 AM PDT by Hojczyk
Speaker John Boehner told a closed gathering of House Republicans on Tuesday morning that he was “pissed” over being unable to reach a “grand bargain” with President Barack Obama to make sweeping entitlement changes in return for an overhaul of the U.S. tax code.
But Boehner also accused Obama of failing to lead on the impending crisis over boosting the $14.3 trillion debt limit, according to people inside the GOP meeting.
But while Boehner was trying to rally his Republican troops Tuesday morning, he did warn them that they will quickly lose leverage in the debate as the country grows closer to the Aug. 2 debt default deadline and Wall Street and business leaders pressure them to cut a deal.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who opposed Boehner’s efforts to cut a “grand slam” deal with Obama, was just as blunt as the speaker. Cantor told rank-and-file Republicans that unless Democrats drop their insistence on tax increases as part of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, there may be no compromise possible with Obama and Democratic congressional leaders.
“If the Democrats continue to insist on tax increases, there is no viable path forward,” Cantor warned, according to sources.
The overwhelming sentiment from House Republicans, according to those present in the room, was that even $2 trillion in cuts over 10 years — roughly what is being discussed at the White House meetings — isn’t sufficient. Republicans want even more cuts, and they want them immediately. Moderate Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida, a 22-year veteran of the House, stood up and said $2.5 trillion wasn’t enough for a deal.
Florida Rep. Allen West emerged from the meeting to say that he didn’t want “fairy dust spending cuts” that are projected over the next decade.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
>> Florida Rep. Allen West emerged from the meeting to say that he didn’t want “fairy dust spending cuts” that are projected over the next decade.
Damn straight, Mr. West!
DEEP CUTS — BRUTAL CUTS — NOW!!! Not in ten years. NOW!!!
I’m not sure I see Boehner chickening out here. It “seems” at this moment that he is holding the line. (Of course, he knows he has to).
Good quote from Cantor also. There is, at this time, no path forward, b/c we are not doing “revenue increases”. Period.
Go GOP.
Quit going to the WH John. You are a co-equal branch of government.
Boehner simply doesn’t have the cojones for the job. He is NOT a leader, and should resign so someone with resolve can take over. Bob
The Federal Bureaucracy must be decimated and Obamacare wiped out for it to be a good deal.
Pass a deal that averts a crisis, and then dare Obama to veto it.
Boehner should call the House into session at the time appointed for the fake White House meetings, pass a stiff bunch of immediate deficit reduction stuff and let the Senate and/or Zer0 destroy it.
No kidding. You’d think as much as ZerØ likes getting out of the house, he could at least hope in the limo and drive down the street and meet at the Capitol.
Keep up the calls/emails.
Keep up the calls/emails.
You’re assuming the senate would pass for O to veto.
Removing ObamaCare would go a long way down the road to fiscal sanity.
PLEASE LTC West run for the Presidency! Boehner is a sell out.
What are you talking about?
Did you bother to read what the article said?
This train wreck has been a long time coming and everyone concerned diddle daddled up to this very grave situation.
We no longer have the time or the luxury of accepting the same kind of grudging, half-hearted and frankly half-a&^3s measures which used to get proposed and accepted.
Things have now reached a critical mass. NOW, the same old tried and failed Kabuki economics and smarmy political fixes amount to handing a band aid to a hemophiliac.
I think so too. I thought that was the idea of the election. They took one useless vote and swept it under the rug.
Boner can claim he’s done his job in averting a crisis, but the rest are being beligerent. One SHTF, it will make O’Bozo and the Senate look really bad.
The other alternative is for Boner to pass no bill, then Obama stops paying SS checks and military salaries, and blames those evil mean radical right-wing Republicans for not passing a debt bill.
Rubio going to be on Rush today.
“The president needs to get his plan down on paper,” Roby said. “We have yet to see his plan.”
- That's about all they need to say at this point. Put the pressure on the POTUS continually, and run down the clock. He will crack if forced to come up with something under the deadline. (Why accept responsibility for a problem that you didn't cause?)
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