Posted on 07/18/2011 5:15:28 PM PDT by neverdem
Debating the McConnell Plan
In the House, Republicans are divided on how much to compromise.
As Senate leaders Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) iron out the details of a controversial plan to raise the debt ceiling, House conservatives are already gearing up to reject it en masse. House GOP leaders, however, have refused to rule out the McConnell option.
“I think there probably is a showdown coming,” Rep. Joe Walsh (R., Ill.) tells National Review Online. “There is a strong contingent in the House that believes this country needs to have a fight over this immoral debt we’re placing on the backs of our kids and grandkids. We avoided that fight over the CR. The feeling now is, ‘Let’s have that showdown now, this is good for us.’”
Republican leaders have called a vote this week on a conservative proposal to raise the debt — “Cut, Cap, and Balance” — but Walsh questions the earnestness of that decision. He suspects the move was “just a bone being thrown to House Republican rank and file,” when the real plan is to move forward with some version of the McConnell proposal, despite “real antagonism” for the proposal within the caucus.
The plan initially put forward by McConnell would effectively give President Obama what he wants: the authority to request a $2.4 trillion debt increase, which is enough to get him through the 2012 election. In exchange, Republicans could pass “resolutions of disapproval” against the president’s request, but ultimately could do nothing to prevent it from being enacted. In theory, these resolutions would give them political cover. The proposal was met with widespread condemnation by the conservative Right. “There is no difference between the McConnell plan and a clean debt-limit increase,” says Heritage Action CEO Michael A. Needham. “It’s an absolute non-starter.”
However, several GOP sources acknowledge that the plan Reid and McConnell ultimately come up with will be the only realistic option at this point. But the question remains — how to get it through the House? As it stands, an answer is hard to come by. “It’s like a foreign country to me,” says one senior GOP Senate aide. “I really don’t know what they need.”
In an effort to make McConnell’s plan somewhat more palatable to House Republicans, Senate leaders are discussing a spending-cut package in the range of $1.5 trillion and the creation of a commission charged with drafting a non-amendable, filibuster-proof deficit plan to be sent to Congress by the end of the year. The final plan could even allow for the House to determine the makeup of the spending-cuts package. But even then, conservative members are unlikely to budge.
So far, it seems as if nothing will satisfy the House, the Senate, and the president. “Conservatives are demanding a solution that actually fixes our debt problem,” says one GOP aide. “So far, ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’ is the only plan that qualifies.” Thirty-seven GOP members have even signed pledges promising not to support a debt increase absent the full enactment of “Cut, Cap, and Balance.” But that plan would certainly be defeated in the Senate — and President Obama on Monday said he would veto the legislation.
House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) lamented that this hard-line “no” caucus was weakening the GOP’s ability to negotiate for spending cuts. “The debt limit is an opportunity to cut spending,” Ryan told National Review Online. “We cannot have irrational expectations when we control one-half of one-third of the government.”
“It’s certainly not helpful,” one Republican member, speaking on background, concedes to NRO. “That said, I think some of these reports from Moody’s and S&P are causing some to reconsider. Default is not an option.”
But House conservatives, still reeling from the disappointing continuing-resolution agreement in April, have vowed to take a stand this time around. “The CR debate left a real sour taste in the mouths of a lot of us, and we do not want to go down that road again,” Walsh says. “If we blink and compromise a little too much and cave, I believe it’s going to have huge ramifications for Republicans in 2012.”
In fact, Walsh and other conservative members of the caucus aren’t going to let that happen on their watch. Walsh has drafted a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) urging him not to bring the McConnell plan up for a vote in the House because it would be “an abdication of our leadership in Congress.” He hopes to gather “at least 100” signatures by the end of the day.
Perhaps the only certainty going forward is that any proposal will require a substantial amount of Democratic support to pass. So it’s not surprising that Boehner rounded out a busy day last Friday with an under-the-radar meeting with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). One aide says Obama should be able to convince a lot of House Democrats to support a deal if needed. Still, given the opposition within his caucus, and the still-simmering fallout from the CR, it is hard to see how Boehner can politically survive another mass conservative defection.
The speaker has referred to the McConnell plan as a “last-ditch effort” that “might look pretty good a couple of weeks from now” if no other agreement is reached. But at the moment, he insists, “We’re far from the time for a last-ditch effort.”
President Obama declared a July 22 deadline by which he wants Congress to reach a deal, and it was revealed on Monday that he held a covert meeting with Boehner and House majority leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) over the weekend. GOP House aides concede that passing any version of the McConnell plan will be extremely difficult, and insist that “Cut, Cap, and Balance” is their sole priority this week.
But once that vote has been cast, how does this all play out? NRO posed the question to a senior House GOP aide. The response: “I don’t know.”
— Andrew Stiles is a 2011 Franklin Fellow.
Nothing would please Obama more than knowing he wouldnt have to contend with those pesky Repubs in the House in order to nosedive this country into absolute Tyranny. In fact I'd say the ONLY thing preventing absolute tyranny is the fact that all spending originates in the House (via the People). So Obama can go pound sand. Better that NO deal passes rather than one which is advantageous to those ruffians in the WH.
And getting Zer0 re-elected.
LLS
"Your 401k, naturally" - Obama
The new tea party House members were not elected in record number to compromise their principles do do business as usual in Washington D.C. They were sent to stop business as usual practices and cut the spending. It may not look good in the media or be popular with the veteran House members, but they had better get used to this. The old way is going to hit the highway. The GOP does not have to do anything, but offer up a true solution.
That is a good assessment, but this teen..does not and will not be held responsible for it. As I understood or misunderstood it, most of the detrimental and personal portions of the healthcare bill take place after his term. Well planned and well timed to hang the blame on someone else. What is your proposal? I say vote him in until he can be the only one to be blamed. So you think a balanced budget amendment is the way to go? I say absolutely not. That only means they will be required to increase taxes if the bill runs “higher than expected”. I am firmly against balanced budgets.
Long posts don’t get read.
Two points only:
1) Boehner MAY NOT put the McConnell bill on the floor if he does not have a majority of Republicans in favor of it. Period. Forget Pelosi. If he tries to pass the bill with a minority of Republicans and all the Democrats, he will be removed from the Speakership before the vote.
2) NOTHING ELSE MATTERS BEYOND A REDUCTION IN FY2012 SPENDING. NOT TAXES. NOT TEN YEAR NUMBERS. Triple digit billions must be removed from FY2012 spending. Period.
They did not care when polls told them not to pass obamacare... by 78% being against its passage... they just pushed ahead with secret midnight votes and doing “WHATEVER IT TAKES” to win.
We have illegal gun running and a president in violation of the War Powers Act and an illegal war in Libya etc... and we worry about being proper and these dims do not even value life or America. No one died in Watergate indeed!
LLS
Well, at least they had a band.
My firmly held, previously stated opinion too. (Use a bigger front next time)
“House conservatives are already gearing up to reject it en masse. House GOP leaders, however, have refused to rule out the McConnell option.”
House conservatives, House leaders.
There’s the dichotomy problem.
Dump Bonehead 2012!
My firmly held, previously stated opinion too. (Use a bigger font next time)
Thanks for the link.
How does one compromise with an addiction, and to what end?
The 1.5 trillion is peanuts & the commission/plan is just BS. The commission will take “longer than anticipated” - closer to 16 months than 4, then whatever plan is hatched will simply be voted down by the Rats. Meanwhile, Obama will have his $2.4 trillion to spend to get reelected. A school girl would catch this scam. The offer is an insult to the intelligence of a rock.
If they want to offer something of value, why not a lifetime membership in the Flat Earth Society.
What amazes me is that strong, rational, conservative people become MUSH when they enter Congress.
Well done, sir.
Cheers!
Well done, again, I say to you, sir.
Cheers!
And color it RED too!
Yeah, aide.
The foreign country is called "America".
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