Forget negotiating. Call their bluff.
Pass a bill for a real tax the wealthy tax and watch dingy harry and Obama fall all over themselves to explain their position.
Pass a bill to take 100% of accumulated wealth of any elected official greater than 5 million dollars.
The solution is for the House of Representatives to pass conservative legislation, including a drastic reduction in transfer payments, and eliminate Obamacare, send it to the Senate, and then just go home.
Every time a media person asks what the GOP is going to do about the financial mess, all they have to do is say the Senate has to do is vote on the legislation and get Obama to sign it.
Any legislation to increase the debt limit should be in very small increments, attached to additional conservative legislation.
It won’t take long for those sucking off the government teat to tell the Democrats to go ahead and pass the legislation.
That’s what a real negotiator would do. When it comes to financial matters, the House of Representatives hold all the cards. The Democrats did this for 40 years; the Republicans can do the same.
An extremely well-written article that describes EXACTLY what is happening here.
I would start off by naming any and all legislation regarding this matter “Child Enslavement Act” and force the President to sign any and all Budget and Debt Ceiling bills labeled as such. Because that is exactly what it is, this debt can NEVER be paid, all that matters is that we ENSLAVE our CHILDREN into paying interest to Bankers for eternity for the privilege of being an American.
They dont have to raise taxes. The tax increases are automatic.
Such a stand would be suicide for Republicans: Not one Republican in the House won their election on refusing to extend middle class tax cuts unless they can force O to cave on the others which which he has no reason to do.
If it makes them feel better they can send Reid two bills one <=$250K and let him reject the ones extending >= $250K which he will do.
This session will end with the House extending the middle class tax cuts by themselves and little else, and they have no real choice in that.
House Republicans have never come out and said that they will never extend those rates unless they get O to sign a bill with other stuff in it. Its best just to put this behind them and move on to the next battle.
A suicidal stand on something they cant win or even defend now will make sure next years house opposes nothing.
“John Boehner and his inept coterie of GOP establishment cronies have made every mistake in the book.”
Maybe Boehner’s orchestrated a good strategy: (1) show that Republicans have tried to get a deal done including giving in some on raising revenue, (2) but don’t bend so far as to make a deal on Obama’s terms. Today we have (3): McConnell proposing to put Obama’s plan up for vote in the Senate and Reid objecting.
Now let’s let this thing go over the fiscal cliff. Republicans have an excellent case that they’re not to blame.
Bob Woodward said this yesterday:
“This is the Obama era, it is [the president’s] economy,” he said. “Speaker Boehner’s an important player and this is significant, but it is Obama’s job to lead and define — so if there negative consequences here, particularly in the economy, it is going to be, ‘In the Obama era, things didn’t get fixed.’”
The GOP has an advantage – the liberal media will screw them no matter what they do. This gives them incredible freedom.
Use it as a lever, on the principles of martial arts leverage.
Excellent piece. Public bookmark for me.
This is spot on. The only wrinkle to add — actually, it’s bigger than a wrinkle; more like the Alps — is that for this to work, the Republican caucus has to stick together. If 20 weak sisters go over the side, we lose.
To compound the problem, the liklihood of the weak sisters getting the willies increases exponentially if we go over the cliff, begin sequestration, get a government shutdown, etc. There will be those who will be tempted, just when the battle gets serious, to seize the opportunity to prove their bipartisan mettle by standing proudly against Party. And they know that they will be annointed Statesmen by the MSM. (Chris Shays used to live for moments like this.)
Fortunately, the Tea Party has had some success in instilling the fear of retribution. Selling out the side is more dangerous than it used to be. That’s all to the good.
But Boehner is still walking a tightrope. I am more inclined than many here to suspect that he is playing his cards correctly. He has to keep the caucus united. If he went fire and brimstone on Obama, which Obama deserves and which would gratify most of us, he would make it much easier for the RINOs to bolt. If he poses as Mr. Conciliation and tries really, really, really hard to go the extra mile for a deal, he makes it tougher.
This has nothing to do with public perception. It has everything to do with perception within the cloakroom. Is Boehner giving the weak sisters the cover they need back home? If we go off the cliff, they’re the ones we have to keep on board when things get ugly. Republicans will get pasted by the MSM early but will get stronger as time wears on. We can live a lot longer and happier with a lot less government than the dems can. But the weak sisters will be soiling themselves from the getgo, and Boehner has to keep them on board.
Worth repeating, do you think defense cuts are what is really scaring the R's and that is making them fold or is it the Georgetown parties they won't be invited to?
“congressional Republicans have no strategy because they have no goal other than to make the hurting stop”
“Any Commander who has failed to take their objective and is neither dead or severely wounded has failed to do their duty.”
Gen. George S. Patton
That's just it, the Repubs have no interest in crushing the Dems. They just want the dance to go on and on.
A little deal here a little deal there, what fun. It makes them feel powerful.
Defeat the Dems, why would they want to do that?
I agree %100. Either call their bluff and/or Pass them! Let them fall on their own sword.
They seem to keep trying to alter those facts, but it will not change.
The best course is to ignore the media and just do what's best for the country and let it go at that. Reasonable and fair-minded people will understand.
They also need to understand, that in a fight for survival when things fall apart, the liberals are going to be the first to fall apart. They are the weakest, and least suited for survival. Everything the Obama administration is doing is meant to weaken the right down to their level in order to give them a chance.
In fact we know exactly how this guy's plan would play out from the FICA tax cut fiasco exactly a year ago
1) House Republicans listen to this guy and say ‘ taxes on the middle class will go up unless we get a full extension, for all that income above $250K too. We will not extend them without the others. We dont leave the job producers behind. We won the election.”
2) In January taxes go up (assuming it gets that far)
3) Obama gets on TV and Townhalls telling middle class voters that their taxes are going up because Republicans once again are putting ‘the vrich’ ahead of them.
4) MSM hounds Republicans asking them if they are happy they ‘raised taxes’ on the middle class
5) House Republicans get flooded in a tidal wave of angry emails and phone calls from those who voted for them.
They try to go home for a visit and there are angly mobs around their house with signs
“I am sorry I voted for you. You raised my taxes you lying #%%$$”, many are white and 50 + obviously not ACORN.
6) The stock Market tanks
7) House Republicans even the most ‘conservative’ go to Bohner and say “WE made a big mistake. We need to cut those taxes (under$250K income) and put this behind us. My voters want to kill me” just as they did with last years FICA.
8) The House quietly passes the extension in secret just as they did FICA last February.
9) Obama signs it declaring that the Rs finally saw reason
10) The stock market recovers some just because the panic is over sand no one knows that the resulting Obama tax increases hurt the stock market because they think house Rs crashed it and O saved it.
11) Obama gets credit for saving the economy. AGAIN.
12) House Republicans dont challenge O again for the next two years. So the Republican party melts down in civil war. Dems bayonette the R wounded.
13) In 2014 election Reid and Pelosi get back the same numbers they got in 2009.
14) January 2015 Congess passes a bill making Obama King. (no more filibuster to stop it) Republicans blame voter fraud.
Or does anyone think middle class voters will act any differently than they did a year ago on FICA with that coming tax increase?
Somebody please send every GOP Congress critter a copy of this. It has to be someone they will listen to.
This commentary knocks it out of the park. I am 100% in agreement with everything here. The absolute best strategy for the GOP House to do at this point is to do absolutely nothing. And the most important ‘nothing’ of all (which was not mentioned here) is to NOT RAISE THE DEBT CEILING. Cut up Obama’s credit card here and now. Let’s see him try to govern with a balanced budget for the next four years.
Ping! This commentary relays my sentiments exactly.