Re: The Upshot
July 29, 2011 1:10 P.M.
By Daniel Foster
In other words, a debt-ceiling increase that is weaker on enforceable cuts than either version of the Boehner plan will become law, and the House conservatives who were so crucial to ensuring the failure of the old Boehner plan will be entirely irrelevant to the vote on the weak Senate compromise. Hooray?
We're SCREWED!
Re: GOP Calls an Audible
July 29, 2011 1:04 P.M.
By Robert Costa
Leaving this morning’s conference meeting, freshman Rep. Mike Kelly (R., Pa.), known for his Fighting Irish spirit, told reporters that House Republicans are “pretty fired up and ready” to back the Boehner plan, which should hit the floor this afternoon. Rep. Steve Chabot (R., Ohio) agreed. “It will have the votes to pass,” he said. “I would like to go further but this is the best we could do under the circumstances. I was ready to vote for the plan yesterday, but this [change] just makes it better.”
Freshman Rep. Raul Labrador (R., Idaho), however, was not as enthusiastic. A firm “no,” Labrador told me he has “no comment” about Boehner’s balanced-budget maneuver. Rep. Joe Walsh (R., Ill.), another freshman who has vocally opposed Boehner’s plan, acknowledged that the tides have turned. Boehner’s changes, he said, are what “a lot of folks needed” to vote “aye.” Still, he noted, “if it were up to me, we’d resend ‘Cut, Cap and Balance’ back to the Senate.”
For what it’s worth, as of 1 p.m., leadership sources say Boehner has all but wrapped this up.