Posted on 12/11/2013 6:54:47 PM PST by Mount Athos
Senate Republicans scrubbing the Ryan-Murray budget deal have come across a little-noticed provision that will limit the GOP’s ability to block tax increases in future years.
The bill includes language from the Senate Democrats’ budget to void a budget “point of order” against replacing the sequester cuts with tax increases.
The process is quite complicated, but in practice it grants Harry Reid the authority to send tax increases to the House with a bare majority, rather than the 60 vote threshold that would be required under the point of order.
The provision has angered key Republican Senators. Reeling from Harry Reid’s unprecedented use of the “nuclear option” to end the filibuster on presidential nominations, they are incredulous that Paul Ryan would have backed another limit to their power.
“This is an appalling power grab that should never have been allowed to be in a final agreement. It’s essentially the ‘nuclear option’ part two, eroding minority rights in the Senate even further. Harry Reid must be very happy,” a Senate GOP aide says.
A House aide says Reid can send tax bills to the House all he wants, since they will never fly in the lower chamber. “House Republicans would never approve a tax increase,” he says.
While the point is true, the change will likely give Reid a potent political cudgel with which to hit Republicans over, since passage of a bill can put pressure on the other chamber to follow suit.
In the Ryan-Murray bill, the change is found on 17-18 in the legislative text, where the bill sets up a “deficit neutral reserve fund” and incorporates 57 individual sections of the Senate Democrats’ budget as having “force and effect.”
These provisions are a big loophole for Paygo rules that give senators the authority to raise a point of order on spending and tax bills, setting a 60 vote threshold. There is a detailed explanation for the process in this 2009 document from then-Senator Judd Gregg’s staff when he was Budget Committee ranking member.
Although the (current) Senate rules generally require 60 votes for passage of a bill, a bill can be amended after cloture has been achieved. In the case of the fall shutdown fight, Republicans helped provide the 60 votes to obtain cloture on the CR, after which Reid took out the defunding Obamacare provision and passed the bill with a bare majority.
Under normal rules, even after cloture had been achieved, any amendment would still be subject to a point of order and 60 vote threshold if it “pays for” spending increases by raising taxes. The Ryan-Murray deal waives that point of order in many cases, prompting the fear that Reid will use it to put political pressure on the House to replace the sequester with new taxes.
Exactly
Any “conservative” that would run with Romney is a sellout megalomaniac.
No GOP House member is safe from a primary, in fact the more conservative the district the greater the chance that the sellout incumbent will get the heave ho.
I wonder if he even knew what he approved.
Evidently, the Murray-Ryan bill is several hundred pages and this detail was buried in the small print.
In the Ryan-Murray bill, the change is found on 17-18 in the legislative text, where the bill sets up a “deficit neutral reserve fund” and incorporates 57 individual sections of the Senate Democrats’ budget as having “force and effect.” The process is quite complicated, but in practice it grants Harry Reid the authority to send tax increases to the House with a bare majority, rather than the 60 vote threshold that would be required under the point of order.
That's not an excuse, of course. But it dramatizes that the 'Rats will do anything and everything to secure an advantage, while the Repubs simply aren't paying attention and don't seem to realize they're in a fight to the death.
If the govt can print money, what are taxes for? Hmmmmm?
Paul Ryan is outed.
He’s a tax increaser. Remove him from office now.
He’s not naïve. He’s one of them, not one of us.
no.no. they invented it...and they were pushing it hard as recently as 2007.Senator Jim Demint was pushing for indv mandate in 2007
;)
Republican voters have two groups fighting against them.
(1) the Democratic Party Leadership
(2) the Republican Party Leadership
The Dem Leader trash the Repub base.
The Repub Leaders trash the Repub base.
Anyone see the problem here for the Repub Party?
Yeah...and funds Obamacare for 2 years.
Yeah. Makes you wonder who Ryan (and Boehner) are really working for, and what their agenda is.
Nah, he's been taken up on the mountain and shown the sunny uplands open to him if he agrees to become Our Boy.
Same old deal Jesus was offered.
succinctly explained.
From the article: “House Republicans would never approve a tax increase.”
I gotta thank them for the belly laugh. Yeah. Suuuure they wouldn’t. Just like they wouldn’t play duck and cover for deathcare.
“Ryan is naive.”
No, Ryan is a tool. A betrayer.
“Then ask for them to vote for you.”
And watch against all logic or common sense as they continue to do so...because the ‘rats are oh so much worse.
Since when does an effing budget deal get to mess with Senate rulez?
They are trying to rush this stuff through now because they realize that 2014 will be a disaster for then liberals. Immigration “reform” is already dead.
With 2014, people will start to think about the elections, and also ObamaCare will be kicking in. The Liberals will be running for cover. Their best hope is to push through legislation before the end of the year.
Murry is a dim bulb, someone on Weed’s, er Reid’s, staff would have had to draft that for her.
ALL PART OF THE PLAN OF THE PROGRESSIVE DUALITY PARTY!
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