LIVE BLOG: The Latest on the Debt Negotiations (TOTUS to speak at 10:20AM)

National Journal ^ | 7/29/11 | Ethan Klapper

[markomalley]

A day after the House postponed its vote on Speaker John Boehner's Budget Control Act, Washington remains at a stalemate. Follow our live blog below for the latest developments.

9:10 a.m. The White House announces that President Obama will deliver a statement at 10:20 a.m.

9:08 a.m. Hotline's Sean Sullivan reports that 22 Republicans are still no votes. He'll be updating the whip count all day, which can be found here.

8:49 a.m. Lawmakers are reacting to last night's events, and we're collecting that reaction here.

8:03 a.m. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s deficit reduction plan is bad, but Boehner’s is worse in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published today.

[PieterCasparzen]

Given the situation and Dem tactics, GOP should have never sent a plan in writing, just kept pressing Dems for one. Do nothing, vote no on everything, keep warning about catastrophe that the Dems are causing by their rampant spending. Keep that message going 24/7 until november 2012.

The WH is going to be squeezed by this and have to make the tough decisions on what to pay and what not to pay cuz each House of Congress has different majorities so they are split and can’t agree on anything.

No matter what government says or does, they will not avoid big, big, big problems between now and nov 2012.

Repubs should be thinking about what they want to walk into in January 2013. More debt or the same debt we have now.

[chessplayer]

Well, he`s threatened the elderly and disabled. Whats next? He gonna threaten kittens and puppies?

[newzjunkey]

CALL THE WHTE HOUSE, ASK FOR OBAMA'S PLAN. WH Switchboard: 202-456-1414 Don't you think it would be more SANE to do this with a Republican Senate, Republican House and Republican President in 2013?

Why do people think today is the time to make this suicidal stand?

You've been heard. I've been heard. We've been heard.

Don't give these three any more reason to smile:

Don't kill the momentum for 2012. Don't overplay this hand. Stop being stupid. Think long ball.

Here's what has been accomplished:

Boehner passed "Cut, Cap & Balance," a Balanced Budget Amendment vote is part of this new plan, tax increases are off the table. "Earmarks" are not being traded for votes unlike when the crooked Tom DeLay was running the show.

I understand these aren't "real" cuts but they do reduce the automatic increases. Everyone understands that but we're not in a position today to make "real" cuts of this year's baseline, only to cut down the asinine baseline increase.

Focus your anger on Obama. On Reid. Stabbing Boehner in the back gets you, me and us nothing.

[RockinRight]

FWIW, if I were Speaker, this is how the conversation would have gone once CCB passed the house:

Speaker RR: "Harry, don't give me this 'table' bullsh*t. Vote on the damn bill or there will be hell to pay."

Dingy: "RR, this bill is a right-wing giveaway to the rich and yadda yadda, liberal talking point inserted here

Speaker RR: "You know damn well that if this fails in the Senate, it's your asses on the line. I'll be damned if we take the blame for this, we got you a bill. None of my freshmen, and not even many of my veteran Republicans have a damn thing to do with this 14T debt we have, that's on you old-line Democrats, and yeah, some Republicans too, but we voted yes on this bill...it's up to you now. Go ahead and vote it down, then you and your big-eared douchebag in chief can explain to the American People why everything turned to sh*t. Have a good night, and go f___ yourself. Now get the hell out of my office and vote on the bill."

[kabar]

A short term clean debt ceiling increase. Give him what he doesn't want and make him sign it or suffer the consequences. Simple. And then start educating and preparing the public for the fight the next time the ceiling comes up.

[winoneforthegipper]

Boner put in Reid’s Spectrum Auctions....

http://nationaljournal.com/congress/document-house-speaker-boehner-s-debt-plan-20110729

SEC. 245. INCENTIVE AUCTION RELOCATION FUND.4Not more than $1,000,000,000 shall be deposited in5the Incentive Auction Relocation Fund established under6section 309(j)(8)(G) of the Communications Act of 1934.

.......

Freakin idiot!

[Deo volente]

How about sending to the Senate a clean rise in the ceiling with a BBA attached. No spending cuts, but also no additional borrowing beyond the $2 trillion or so, and no additional taxes. Give them everything they want right now, but make it conditional on votes for a BBA. Why would they want to object to something that the majority of Americans want? They wouldn’t dare kill a deal like that and let the economy tank, not with the election this close. The blame would fall squarely on them. The anger coming their way would be immense. Force the BBA issue by throwing it into their court. They get their debt ceiling increase, the markets soar, our credit rating is intact, and grandma gets her check. We get the BBA through Congress in return, and sent to the states to ratify. Power returns to the people, where it belongs.

We’re hopelessly stuck on the spending and tax issues with time running out. It’s time to think outside the box.
This endless talk of ten-year cuts and budget projections is a waste of time and pointless, as it’s predicated on wishful thinking about growth rates, etc., and other murky assumptions.

Just get that BBA rolling NOW and send it to the states.
What’s more responsible than that? Deal with the spending later, when we (hopefully) take back the Senate and the White House. When the BBA becomes law, the spending will take care of itself.

[RockinRight]

Exactly...which is why the GOP has to tread lightly - balance not pissing off independents with not pissing off conservatives. CCB came close to that and even this crap bill is not that bad in the short-term.

[expatpat]

No, he doesn’t want a default YET — it’s the Chicago way. In a common organized-crime scam called a bust-out, they buy stuff for their friends using some poor organization’s full credit, and then leave it with huge debts and no credit left. I’m sure that O would like to squeeze the US’s last drop of credit with more debt, to celebrate the biggest bust-out in organized-crime history.

[lodi90]

“CALL THE WHTE HOUSE, ASK FOR OBAMA’S PLAN.”

Absolutely and we should have been hearing that daily from every Republican appearing on TV the minute barry started his call Congress jive routine.

[weston]

Wow. I think we all tend to underestimate evil. We think in terms of a sly game in which the Dems will eventually have to compromise. They are not playing. Obama’s evil desire to bend America to his vision is Serious. We need to SERIOUSLY oppose it!!

[wxgesr]

no worries Mom......

[masadaman]

You may be LOL and you may be right, but TARP, QE1, QE2, the Stimulus, the protection of Fannie and Freddie etc. could not have come about with an independent Wall St. and market free from government influence at the highest levels. If government and Wall St. weren't joined at the hip,would we now have Dodd Frank? Sarbanes Oxley? Treasury and the Fed are not taken lightly on the Street and primary dealer permits aren't given out for Christmas.

[sanjuanbob]

Well spoken although it appears we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t when it comes to a downgrade. I’m with you on the rest. We the people know best.

[daisy mae for the usa]

The Boehner bill just came out of committee where the 4 dems got to rail, wail, and shout “OH! The Huge Manatee!!!” And then the committee passed it to the floor.

All in committee seem to agree it doesn’t have a single hope of passing senate.

Interesting to watch.

[Hoodat]

Sen Reid says he will have to file cloture on his debt limit bill tonight if the House can’t pass anything

Wouldn't he have to actually offer it up for a vote first? The Senate has yet to see even a glimpse of the Reid bill.

[kabar]

I have no doubt that Wall Street owns both parties, but the idea that Timmy can with just a word contol the ups and downs of the stock market given the huge number of institutional investors and mutual funds from around the world is a bit of a stretch. The only thing that can be done is to stop trading.

No matter how much spin comes from the politicians they can't control fiscal reality. They can't manipulate fiscal reality so the GDP goes up, unemployment goes down, the entitlement programs become solvent, or the deficits go down. They can't control the climate, the rise of the oceans, or the melting of the ice caps.

The politicians can play all the phony games they want, but unless something meaningful is done to reduce the size of our deficits and get our national debt under control, this entire house of cards is going to collapse similar to what happened when the housing bubble burst. Hubris comes before a fall.

[Hoodat]

Says if US loses AAA credit rating will be tax on all through higher interest rates.

Those higher interest rates will only apply on new bonds issued. Balance the budget, and there will be no need to issue new bonds. Then the poor saps who are purchasing bonds will be forced to invest their dollars in American business opportunities instead, resulting in a booming economy. Obama is fighting hard to make sure this doesn't happen.

[Hoodat]

No dollar expansion, no GDP increase.

This premise is patently false.

[semantic]

No dollar expansion, no GDP increase. This premise is patently false.

Actually, it's factually true. In a non-productive economy such as ours, GDP is purely a function of debt - that is, good 'ole inflation/deflation.

Total debt outstanding is a function of the monetary base ie reserve ratios, leverage, etc. The monetary base can be expanded in real terms by creating new dollars (actually credits - refer to the Fed's $14T liquidity flood), or it can be expanded in a virtual sense by altering (increasing) leverage.

But, thanx for playing. You're doing a fine job of demonstrating to others how to be a banker's b!tch. OTOH, perhaps you should avoid discussions regarding economics & finance on a public forum.