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McConnell’s plan confuses the chattering class
Washington Post ^ | 7/12/2011 | Jennifer Rubin

Posted on 07/13/2011 5:07:05 AM PDT by BfloGuy

The concept isn’t that hard to understand. 1. McConnell had enough of the phony White House talks. The White House offered a paltry $2 billion in actual, immediate cuts. 2. McConnell gave a speech to make clear that wasn’t enough and that the debt limit would be raised only with real cuts and without tax hikes. 3. McConnell could sit back and wait for default. 4. But he comes up with a mechanism to force Obama to put up cuts, send them to Congress and face “default” if the president’s cuts don't get through. 5. In the process he makes 34 Democratic senators vote over and over again on cuts. (The sound you hear in the background is the conga line at the Senate Republican Committee headquarters.)

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: debtceiling; debtlimit; mcconnell
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To: ConservativeDude
Obama is not "reaching out" and has no idea how that might be done. His only talent in dealing with Republicans is to continue telling lie after lie after lie after lie.

McConnell was simply baiting him. Goober has no idea how to respond ~ his henchmen don't either. Did you see Harry Reid say anything? And, BTW, where's Chucky Schumer now that his butt is on the line for providing cover for gun running to Mexico.

There's whole huge chunks of the Senate Democrat caucus who are missing in action. They are saying nothing about anything.

21 posted on 07/13/2011 5:41:47 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: ConservativeDude
McConnell may have really screwed this up.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily endorsing this proposal. I'm pointing out that it is not a sell-out as people were claiming.

DeMint, Rubio, et. al. may be right in this case -- or they could be blustering. I sure don't know. It's all fun to watch, though.

22 posted on 07/13/2011 5:43:45 AM PDT by BfloGuy (The state is that great fiction, by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.)
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To: libs_kma

The problem is the assumption that they care about going on record. The Dems and 0’s administration have done nothing to validate that assumption. They’ve done everything over the last several years in the ‘by any means necessary’ mode. They’ve been utterly shameless with what they’re doing, and the blatant lies they use to justify it - with complete assistance from the media.

Giving them an inch results in just another inch of scorched earth. McConnell’s statements yesterday morning was the opportunity to stand ground, and now he’s muddied the waters again.


23 posted on 07/13/2011 5:44:47 AM PDT by whatexit
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To: MNJohnnie

......surrender by Senate GOP.....

I believe you are correct. If the GOP House and Senate are at odds with each other then Obama has won. United we stand, divided we fall. Meanwhile, John Q. Public hears the media bleating “ the GOP turned down Obama’s 4 trillion in budget cuts and social security/medicare reform”. I think we are seeing the GOP in panic surrender mode and it’s not a pretty thing to watch.


24 posted on 07/13/2011 5:45:56 AM PDT by mighty atlas
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To: Peter from Rutland
The problem here at FR is that we have a group who are so emotionally invested in GOP failure that they will leap onto any story that might support their desires.

The RATS have been playing these guys like cheap fiddles for years, using their "principled conservativeness" against them.

25 posted on 07/13/2011 5:53:12 AM PDT by Redleg Duke ("Madison, Wisconsin is 30 square miles surrounded by reality.", L. S. Dryfus)
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To: Pollster1
If the GOP passes a good, clean, scaled back budget, perhaps even a near Xerox copy of the 2000 or 2001 budget and stands firm, what can the far left do?

They can vote it down -- they already have.

26 posted on 07/13/2011 5:54:10 AM PDT by BfloGuy (The state is that great fiction, by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.)
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To: cotton1706

McConnell is either absolutely stupid or is a pure traitor either way he should be toast. Remember this is the Senate that unanimously confirmed Pannetta and should we think they would overturn anything Obama wants???? You would have to be drunk and stupid to believe this strategy is even plausible.


27 posted on 07/13/2011 5:54:10 AM PDT by iopscusa (El Vaquero. (SC Lowcountry Cowboy))
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To: Eric in the Ozarks
McConnell seems to be saying Barky & Company will feel guilty about continuing raising taxes and continuing to spend.

No -- he knows them better than that. Tax hikes are not allowed in his proposal. Look, there's no question that McConnell is an establishment Republican. But I think there are some clever politics being played here.

The Repubs are playing hardball -- they're throwing options at Obama from several directions.

28 posted on 07/13/2011 5:58:14 AM PDT by BfloGuy (The state is that great fiction, by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.)
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To: BfloGuy
They can vote it down -- they already have.

< But if we pass a budget that pays for everything useful the feds do (I know - VERY short list), and the far left fringe then votes it down, stops social security checks, or shuts down the few parts of the federal behemoth that people care about, the left would get blamed. They're not willing to accept responsibility for their devastation. They want destruction, but they want to be able to pretend it's our fault. We have to make it clear that we're trying to get the job done, just that we're doing so frugally.

29 posted on 07/13/2011 5:58:45 AM PDT by Pollster1 (Natural born citizen of the USA, with the birth certificate to prove it)
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To: Cincinatus
his strategy is to rope-a-dope The Bamster

Precisely. I was going to use the exact same term.

And you're right. If this were accepted (highly unlikely), it would not be a complete victory at all. Neither would it be a defeat. Sort of a tie with benefits.

30 posted on 07/13/2011 6:00:54 AM PDT by BfloGuy (The state is that great fiction, by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.)
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To: muawiyah

There’s whole huge chunks of the Senate Democrat caucus who are missing in action.”

Well, that is one data point that is irrefutable at this point.

The D’s don’t yet know how to respond to this. So it does have them a bit bewildered.

If McConnell was smart, he would have known beforehand how DeMint would respond, and hopefully he factored that into his calculation ahead of time.

Hopefully McConnell is pretty well-versed in game theory.....


31 posted on 07/13/2011 6:01:24 AM PDT by ConservativeDude
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To: Mustangman
I learned this lesson in a Kung-Fu episode.

Unfortunately, I think we're Charlie Brown facing Lucy with the football, not Grasshopper facing Master Kan with a pebble.

32 posted on 07/13/2011 6:03:25 AM PDT by Pollster1 (Natural born citizen of the USA, with the birth certificate to prove it)
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To: pburgh01

And you have made the mistake of thinking there is some perfect plan which will placate the MSM and the Tea Party.”

No, I haven’t done that at all. I am working on the assumption that anything Obama and the MSM agree on is catastrophic for the country, which I think is sufficiently evident. I am assuming that if what McConnell proposes is accepted, even in principle by Obama, then it is bad and the only way to defeat it is to have conservatives united...and united against the alliance of Obama and McConnell. I don’t see how the cause is advanced if that were to happen, and logically, it is an outcome that “could” happen, if Obama accepts the McConnell proposal.

Obviously McConnell needs to “do what is right”. The difficult question is determining just what is right. And as a general rule, I sure as hell trust DeMint’s judgment and values more than McConnell’s. But not that DeMint is opposing what McConnell has proposed, I am simply hoping that THIS TIME, McConnell has a superior read of the situation.


33 posted on 07/13/2011 6:06:51 AM PDT by ConservativeDude
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To: BfloGuy

I think McConnell’s proposal gives cover to both sides. You know how many RINOs we have to suffer with.


34 posted on 07/13/2011 6:08:25 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Eh ?)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks
McConnell seems to be saying Barky & Company will feel guilty about continuing raising taxes and continuing to spend.

The Donks will take that bet every day of the week and laugh

Not only that, the average voters don't care a lick about the deficit or higher taxes. The Democrats don't have to worry about paying a political price for screwing up the economy- the media will always blame the right.

35 posted on 07/13/2011 6:09:15 AM PDT by TravisBickle (Are you talkin' to me?)
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To: BfloGuy; Cincinnatus

his strategy is to rope-a-dope”

Continuing that metaphor...Ali won the Rumble in the Jungle, but what of the longterm effect? Not so good....all the pounding of the melon has left Ali, well, a little dizzy.


36 posted on 07/13/2011 6:09:33 AM PDT by ConservativeDude
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To: cotton1706
The House should decide on how much the United States is going to borrow (if any) for the coming year, vote on it and send it to the senate. Stop the dealmaking and start legislating. “this is what you have to work with, Mr. President. You’re not getting any more. You’re the executive. Deal with it and prioritize.” That should be the attitude. Not “let’s put the onus all on him over there”

BTTT! This is the simple way things are to work!

In businesses, the ban counters tells the board, "This is what we have to work with." Then the board lays out their priorities and then the departments/people work within those constraints - PERIOD!
37 posted on 07/13/2011 6:12:33 AM PDT by ExTxMarine (PRAYER: It's the only HOPE for real CHANGE in America!)
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To: ExTxMarine

ban counters = bean counters


38 posted on 07/13/2011 6:13:16 AM PDT by ExTxMarine (PRAYER: It's the only HOPE for real CHANGE in America!)
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To: BfloGuy

A scorpion wants to cross a river, but it can’t swim. It asks a frog to help. The frog is worried, but the scorpion promises «I won’t sting you, because if I did I would drown». In mid river the scorpion stings the frog. The dying frog asks «why?» and the drowning scorpion answers «that’s my nature».


39 posted on 07/13/2011 6:13:23 AM PDT by ctdonath2 ($1 meals: http://abuckaplate.blogspot.com/)
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To: ConservativeDude
McConnell must be presumed to NOT be acting alone. There are staffers quite expert in Congressional gamesmanship.

Here's a lesson ~ one more time ~ if something is sourced by a Democrat or Leftwingtard assume the story is not true.

Second, do not always assume that someone who's been a Republican his whole life has suddenly decided that he's now a Democrat. That simply does not happen. You might want to believe that it does but it doesn't. Jeffords was never a real Republican anyway.

If Obama talks about compromise don't believe him. He's never compromised on anything. Remember, this is the guy who when addressing the question of a baby being born alive in an abortuary said the woman came there expecting a dead baby, so kill it.

That's not a sign he can compromise. He simply doesn't think that way.

40 posted on 07/13/2011 6:17:22 AM PDT by muawiyah
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