Posted on 07/20/2011 9:51:31 AM PDT by Libloather
Reid says he's waiting on Boehner to tell him 'path forward' on debt
By Josiah Ryan - 07/20/11 10:35 AM ET
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday claimed his chamber has a "path forward" for raising the debt ceiling but said he's waiting on Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to tell him what can pass the House.
“I'm at a point where I'm saying we need to hear from the House of Representatives,” Reid said from the Senate floor. “We have a plan to go forward over here. But until we hear from the House of Representatives, really our, all of our work here would be for naught.
"I await the word from the Speaker," he added.
In response, a spokesman for Boehner said the Senate needs to move on the debt-ceiling package that the House passed Tuesday evening.
"We are aware of the deadline, which is why we hope Sen. Reid will move quickly to schedule a vote on the 'Cut, Cap and Balance plan' passed by the House with bipartisan support," the spokesman said.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said the House's position is "crystal clear."
"In case Senator Reid didn’t notice, a bipartisan 'Gang of 234' just sent him the way forward. It’s called the 'Cut, Cap, and Balance Act,'" Jordan said in a statement. "This is the only plan that can fundamentally solve our debt problem, and it is waiting for Sen. Reid to bring up on the Senate floor for an up-or-down vote."
The "Cut, Cap and Balance" bill passed the House Tuesday evening in a 234-190 vote. The legislation is not expected to pass the Senate, and President Obama has threatened to veto it.
Senators are working on at least two other plans to raise the debt ceiling, and Reid admitted Wednesday morning that the precise path the chamber will choose in a debt-reduction package is undetermined.
On Tuesday, the Gang of Six offered a plan that was received warmly by many senators that would reduce the deficit by $3.7 trillion over the next 10 years and increase tax revenues by $1 trillion through closed loopholes.
The gang's plan — which President Obama hailed as a "significant step" in the negotiations — will not be completed in time to meet the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the debt ceiling. But it's possible that some of the group's recommendations could be included in a debt-ceiling deal.
Reid is also working with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on a fall-back proposal that could put the onus on President Obama to make three separate requests to raise the debt limit.
“We in the Senate, we can have the greatest ideas in the world, but if they're not accepted in the House, we can't extend the debt ceiling, which we have to do,” said Reid.
“Reid says he’s waiting on Boehner to tell him ‘path forward’ on debt”
Reid couldn’t find ‘forward’ on any path of any kind let alone a path on spending.
All Reid has to do is listen to the populace shouting “cut spending”.
But Reid is deaf as well as stupid.
You can add your comment on that site to mock Reid for being so clueless and not putting cut, cap and a balance on the Senate calendar.
What a dolt Reid is. There is a solution, there is a way forward - cut, cap and balance.
I believe they just saw what can pass in the house.
Boehner should tell Harry he’s waiting for Obamas’ plan.
CCB has passed the House. They want an increase, well there it is. Take it or no increase on the debt limit.
But, but, but... pass Aug 2 and we'll default. Ofraudo is sure of it.
Is it Legal that the Senate can even raise the debt ceiling without a budget?
Boehner should answer- “If the Democrat party majority in the Senate had addressed the dead on arrival obama budget and spending we would not be having this discussion”
Then Boehner needs to say— “Part 2 of the Cut Cap and Balance is our House Bill #____ the Repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act”
“These two actions, if voted on and supported in the Democrat controlled Senate, would indeed reflect the intent of the public, and place the executive decision on these measures to bring our financial house in order in the President’s hands. If the President vetoes these well deliberated actions, he will realize that the country wants nothing more to do with him and the supporters he has left in the democrat party. The American people have spoken- democrats should listen, and act.”
The path forward: Cut, slash, and eviscerate the M*****F****** Federal government.
Boehner should do the ‘peoples’ work and stop playing games with these con artists.
It has NOTHING to do with the debt ceiling debate.
Actually, now that more of the details are starting to come out, it will be around $1.2 Trillion in cuts, and $3 Trillion in tax hikes...
“In case Senator Reid didn’t notice, a bipartisan ‘Gang of 234’ just sent him the way forward.”
Ha!! bipartisan gang of 234. Now that’s classic right there. Love this guy.
You know Reid is seething that he can only act on what the House sends him.
- I think the game is for the Dems to try to force the House to pass the Gang of Six plan before any of the real details are there, and then six months down the road- like always- it would be completely altered by the committees working on it and made ten times worse (and all the supposedly positive tax reforms would be removed from it). Another ruse.
The House Republicans should just do what Obama always does- kick back and take a rest, play some golf, etc.- and tell the Dems they've done everything they were required to do. Now it's up to the Dems to fill in the details in their "proposal" before the deadline- or else...
Take Obama's 2011 budget...
eliminate all the federal departments that should be done at the state level and eliminate the federal departments that are not constitutional and better done by private industry:
EPA -11.2
Commerce -11.5
Interior -14
Nasa -17.9
International Assistance -24.3
Energy 44.4
Housing & Urban Dev -53
Transportation -87
Education - 94.3
Labour 117
Agriculture -147
Health & Human Services -934.4
There you have it boys and girls, 1 Trillion 555 Billion dollars in savings the first year alone. Multiply that by 10 years and everyone who paid into Social Security could be made whole with interest!
Then take every other budget item on that pie chart and cut it by half and this country would be the envy of the world.
Dear U.S. Senate:
Please check your In box.
Yours,
U.S. House
Boehner should immediately come forward and say that the Democrats and Harry Reid haven’t put forth a budget for over 900 days and for Harry Reid to say now that he’s waiting on the Republicans is the absolute height of hypocrisy.
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