GOP rallies around Boehner on deal

Politico ^ | 7/31/11 | JAKE SHERMAN & JONATHAN ALLEN

[Rabin]

By JAKE SHERMAN & JONATHAN ALLEN | 7/31/11 7:17 PM EDT

House Republicans praised Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the deal he cut to avoid a national default during a rare Sunday night conference call, giving first-blush approval to a plan that must still be committed to legislation and passed by both chambers of Congress.

Now comes the hard part for the four heads of congressional caucuses: Selling the fine print. That’s the job that Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signed up for when each gave his or her word to President Barack Obama Sunday night that the deal was in hand.

It’s complicated, multi-dimensional and full of peril for the priorities of each side — so much so that while the White House pointed to the possibility of the Bush tax cuts expiring, House Republican leaders were telling their rank and file that the deal made that scenario less likely.

It’s not “the greatest deal in the world,” Boehner told his troops.

“But it shows how much we’ve changed the terms of the debate in this town,” Boehner said on the call, according to a transcript released by the speaker’s office. “There is nothing in this framework that violates our principles. It’s all spending cuts.”

Come Monday, all eyes will be on House Republicans because they seldom jump in line without a fight.

Boehner’s lieutenants, including Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), applauded the speaker for pushing the president as far as he could while avoiding the economic and political calamity that could result from a default on the nation’s debt — which the Treasury Department has said will happen after Aug. 2 if...

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[WilliamHouston]

Don’t worry.

The Super Congress will cut spending. It is an even better version of the Congress we have now ... which 6 percent of America supports.

[Loyal Sedition]

OK, got to it via a google search.
Not impressed!

Still pretending the current congress has any ability to control future congressional action!
No real assurance of a balanced budget amendment, I doubt one trillion in cuts covers the interest on the current debt.
Appears we may lose the “Reagan tax cuts”, equals a TAX INCREASE!

I saw nothing of any Fed. agencies being eliminated, none even being combined!
Where are the actual budget cuts, not just imaginative accounting tricks, real cuts?

[okie01]

Control of the House is 1/3 of the pie. The only other option is to shut down the government, terrify seniors, watch Wall Street go crazy, and generally serve our political heads to Obama on a silver platter - something that will result in our evisceration at the polls in 2012 and four more years of Obama with strengthened/newfound majorities. Not a winning strategy.

I fear what this debt ceiling affair (along with the CR charade) proves is that the GOP House isn't capable of winning any battles and actually moving the ball forward.

Consequently, it might be best if we simply go on defense and concentrate on stopping everything the President and Democrat Senate try to do.

[sourcery]

Worse than what we hoped for, better than what we feared. Our opponents are NOT happy with this deal. At all.

It’s not what I want at all. I won’t be satisfied until all Unconstitutional spending is eliminated. But it’s a start. It took our opponents a century to get us where we are today. We cannot expect to reverse a trend of such duration overnight.

Two steps forward, one step back. Keep up the pressure.

[PieterCasparzen]

Control of the House is 1/3 of the pie. The only other option is to shut down the government, terrify seniors, watch Wall Street go crazy, and generally serve our political heads to Obama on a silver platter - something that will result in our evisceration at the polls in 2012 and four more years of Obama with strengthened/newfound majorities. Not a winning strategy.

IMHO, the opposite on the political fallout. If "we" "make it through" without the government crashing into the debt ceiling, obama and all Dems will be able to do their standard operating procedure of lie, lie, lie and the whole "emergency" will fade in people's minds if the Federal government can somehow "limp" through until november 2012.

If the debt ceiling is not raised, the cash runs out.

At that point - obama has to start making choices as to who to pay and who not to pay.

Not everyone can get paid. He will make a lot of people very unhappy when they don't get paid. Hence, the general public will see a collapse happen this summer and fall. They will see checks not going out, contracts being cancelled, all kinds of bad things. obama's press conferences will go from bad to terrible.

The Repubs should simply sit cool as a cucumber, shrug and smile and say - well, elections have consequences. If Repubs had the Senate and Presidency we could hack government spending down right now, this year, for the current year, and eliminate some departments AND all their corresponding regulation on citizens and business. But we can't. The President was elected, it's up to him to make the choices of who not to pay if Congress can't agree on letting the government borrow more.

It would be a bumpy ride until 2012.

But if they "limp along" without causing ma and pa public any pain, once Repubs take office in 2013 - the Government is then at 16 to 18 trillion in debt - 8 or 9 TIMES ANNUAL REVENUE. The bubble will burst on the Repubs watch after 2013. If that debt ceiling gets increased, I pity the next President. I would drop out if I was in the race. Just imagine, with all the czars, bailouts, enormous staff increases - the list goes on and on - 2013 will be the start of an unmitigated disaster. I highly doubt that anyone will buy bonds in 2013 if they buy another trillion or two now. Because the economy will still languish and tax revenue will not move up much past 2 trillion.

[El Gato]

From an objective of past standards, as opposed to what needs to be done, Boehner took Obama and Reid to the cleaners.

The point is not to take Obama, Reid and Pelosi to the cleaners, it is save the country.

Maybe next year, if there is a USA next year. You keep kicking the can down the road, and someday you run out of road.

What would the Old Pea Picker have to say about our situation?

Another day older and a deeper in debt. St. Peter don't you call me cause I owe my soul to the Chicoms now.

[americanophile]

Divided government allows you to stop an agenda. We’ve done that already. Reversing one, which is what everyone here wants to see, takes control of the entire government. We had our shot under Bush and blew it; we need to work on earning another in 2012. Only then can we hope to turn America around.

[org.whodat]

Roflol, where is the party that wants smaller government and less spending.

[cc2k]

no dems wrote:

IF THE GOP GOES ALONG WITH THIS, IT'S TIME TO FORM THE "CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF AMERICA".

Watch individual members, not the party.

The TEA Party caucus should vote against this. And any true conservatives should seriously consider voting against this.

In 2012, all "establishment Republicans" who go along with this need to be eliminated in the primaries.

Ballot access laws in most states are written to protect the establishment parties. I live in Florida. Charlie Crist (RINO) tried to run as an "Independent" last year. I thought he was washed up, but when I heard his radio add during the last 3 weeks before the election and he said, "Look for me on line 9 on your ballot," I knew he had no chance at all.

Until that changes, a "third party" is doomed. Better to reclaim and reform the Republican party.

Right now, from what I'm hearing about this deal, this will grow government. The "cuts" are from projected spending increases, not from current spending.

There are two major things wrong with this. First, spending in Fiscal Year 2012 and 2013 (the only two years which this Congress can actually control) will go up, not down. The second is pretending that this Congress can do anything about years after Fiscal Year 2013, it can't. On January of 2013, a new Congress will be sworn in, and that Congress can do anything, including reversing anything this Congress has done.

The status quo is going to be maintained for now:

[americanophile]

No. We would get all the blame. We already fought the shutdown fight with Clinton and lost. The Obama economy is a nightmare, and this shutdown would allow him to blame his continued poor performance on the alleged uncertainty wrought by the intransigence of the GOP. Wall Street would go berserk, there could be serious consequences in the bond market, for the dollar, etc. We would get all the blame thanks to a media absolutely salivating at the chance to lift the economic millstone from around Obama’s neck. Moreover, Republicans would be blamed for every negative ramification - from delayed Social Security checks and Medicare reimbursements to closed national parks to endangering our troops and mistreating our veterans. It would be a nightmare for us and the result would be a return of Obama in 2013 with a strengthened hand. No, this had to end this way, this time around. Anything else was political suicide, and the only way we save America from bankruptcy and demise is through our political success. 2012 - keep your eye on the prize.

[TwoSwords]

So, there would be a economical difference when we control the House, Senate and WH? The results would be smoother? The world is defined by men, not mice.

[cc2k]

PieterCasparzen wrote:

f Repubs had the Senate and Presidency we could hack government spending down right now, this year, for the current year, and eliminate some departments AND all their corresponding regulation on citizens and business.

When has that ever happened in the past?

Republicans had the House, the Senate and the Presidency from January 2001 through December 2006. During that time, the Department of Education budget doubled. Department of Energy grew by 50%.

We need more Republicans like Custer needed more Indians.

What we need is a party dedicated to smaller federal government, limited by the Constitution. And we need that from the bottom to the top. We need city council members and county commissioners who control their spending and don't go asking their Congress Critters for "Grant money" to pay for things. The problem goes much farther than inside the beltway.

We need Republicans who will act like republicans. Repubicans who will live within the limits of the Constitution, and local and state Republicans who understand you can't pass "10th amendent resolutions" asking the Congress to respect the Constitution, and then ask for $Billions in "federal grants" for extra-constitutional "programs."

[americanophile]

The GOP lost its way, were working on giving it new focus. Politics is always about what is achievable. Elect the right people and in the right numbers, and we can do much.

[American Constitutionalist]

Yes, all the fine speeches they made during the 2010 election telling us how the Democrats were out of control ( in which was true ) and how we needed to trust them in getting spending under control and that they were going to Washington for " THE PEOPLE " BLA BLA bla bla, it was all a lie, bait and switch so we can vote for these losers again....
This group of Republicans so called working for the people are no better than the Democrats.
Tell us ? what was the main theme and point of voting them in office in 2010 ? oh, yeah, to go to Washington for " THE PEOPLE " and get spending under control, and repeal ObamaCare in which they have not done either.... liars...

[americanophile]

There would be a legislative difference. The world may be ruled by men, but at the moment we haven’t sufficient of them. Win in 2012.

[spyone]

There is nothing you said that I disagree with. But in my putting probabilities of what would happen on the debt deal, this wasn’t the most likely, and certainly not the worst. A default is inevitable, IMO. The mathematics are becoming more insurmountable with each passing day.

[Loyal Sedition]

Rather than just “preach to the quire” I fired off FAXes listing my objections to each of my reps in the house and senate, TONIGHT!

My FAX will be waiting for them when they arrive in the morning.
Already printed out for their readying pleasure. ;-)

[ConservativeDude]

If true=false, then there would be no constraints on what is possible. Hence, the world exists.”

Have you been reading Leibniz again?

[NTHockey]

Wow, what a great deal! We went from 3-1 cuts to 1-1 and the choice is higher taxes or deep(er) cuts to the military. That’s real good negotiating.

That PUB laughing about giving Boehner a Merlot and a cigarette was truer than he thought - Boehner got scr*wed. And so did we.

Once again, PUBs have shown their inability to lead. Only 0bambi is worse; but he’ll take all the credit that the LSM gives him.

[Heatseeker]

You’re not the only one.