Too many conservatives are looking at this as if it was the budget fight -- and they're properly angry because we got completely hosed in that "battle," receiving nothing but promises, and even the promises were trivial. The sad fact is that the money in this case is already appropriated. Unless laws are repealed we must pay it. We will never have the majorities in either the House or the Senate to do that as long as 0 is President. That means that until almost February of 2013, we are stuck with raising the debt limit, or defaulting.
The date of August 3rd is, of course, completely bogus. The President's claim that he can't guarantee SS checks will be mailed on that date is shameful. But nevertheless the fact remains that as long as 0 is President, eventually we must either raise the limit, or default. And that eventuality will occur before November 2011, not after November 2012.
0bama is essentially playing the PLO/Hamas role right now. He says a lot of nice sounding things in public about wanting to cut the deficit, but in private talks he makes it clear that he has no intention to do that. This is why Republicans are divided: He is so transparently a liar to anyone who actually knows what's going on, they can't believe they will not win the PR battle. They need to remember December 1998. The President of the United States clearly committed obstruction of justice and should have been removed.
But politics is not about what's right, and the very pathetic fact is that the middle 20% of the country -- absolute jackasses who vote on the basis of the last yard sign they see on their way into the Firehouse -- determine the outcome of our elections.
Bill O'Reilly, a genuinely insufferable, self-aggrandizing clod if ever there was one, knows this bunch quite well. Conservatives may not like him (they shouldn't) but his instincts are generally correct about them because as a populist blowhard his livelihood depends on it. He understands that they're not "ideological." All this really means is that they don't have any self-consistent political thought process, but never mind. He says they think the Republicans are losing on this, and to some degree they probably are. But independents still do think "it's the spending, stupid." So do we. So we must not allow our political alliance on this most important common ground to be lost.
McConnell's plan forces 0bama to either prove himself a liar, or actually cut when he says he wants to cut. [He will under no circumstances cut, and his reelection chances will go down in flames if he proves himself a liar.] McConnell's gambit was brilliant. Unfortunately, too many conservatives have knee-jerked this, including Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh of both of whom I am a fan.
Eventually, we will either execute McConnell's plan, we will raise taxes, or we will default. I don't believe it's an exaggeration to say that the last two outcomes may well mean the end of the GOP.
Let me get to this one tomorrow as it is late here.
This subject is more what I was getting at initially on this thread not Bush history, your post has some very logical points and some that can be debated.
McConnell's trick might be our best hope.The idea is to get Obama to eat one poison pill or another. However:
1) He has been proving himself a liar for quite a while now, but too many voters don't care or are not paying attention.
2) Some House conservatives won't vote for it, so if Boehner wants it to pass in the House, he may need Dem votes. If so, I am afraid he will take out meaningful tax cuts, or delay so long that Obama will use the fear of pending economic doom. If all voters were like me, not raising the debt ceiling might be a good idea, but too many are easily manipulated, unfortunately.
This is the weakest point in your comment. It is not 'brilliant' it is more like 'surrender to avoid more casualties'. Sadly Republicans may end up where this is their best option, but only if they lost.
Tomorrow is Sunday and we will see if Republicans have improved their messaging on the shows.