National Review: House Debt Ceiling Demands Leaked

[Bolo Boffin]

Pardon the link to National Review, but this leak makes for an exception. I got it from Ezra Klein's Wonkbook email.

The good news: they aren't asking for the long-form birth certificate.

The bad news: that's about where they drew the line.

Well, as it happens, I can't get the page to come up. I guess it's getting a lot of hits. Here's Klein's breakdown of the bill:

In return for a one-year suspension of the debt ceiling, House Republicans are demanding a yearlong delay of Obamacare, Rep. Paul Ryan's tax reform plan, the Keystone XL pipeline, more offshore oil drilling, more drilling on federally protected lands, rewriting of ash coal regulations, a suspension of the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to regulate carbon emissions, more power over the regulatory process in general, reform of the federal employee retirement program, an overhaul of the Dodd-Frank financial regulations, more power over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's budget, repeal of the Social Services Block Grant, more means-testing in Medicare, repeal of the Public Health trust fund, and more.

It's tempting to think that this is Boehner teaching his conference a lesson. They told him what they wanted, and he's going to let them have it -- good and hard. House Republicans are walking into the debt-ceiling negotiations with an opening bid that makes them look ridiculous. This looks like an Onion parody of what the House's debt-ceiling demands might be. It's a wonder it's not written in comic sans.

But this is really the conference teaching Boehner a lesson. He had so little support to raise the debt ceiling at all -- and so little trust from his members that he had a strategy to maximize their leverage -- that this is the bill he had to present. At this point, Boehner either can't stop them, or he's too exhausted to try.

These people are crazy. Absolutely insane.

And get this from the National Review article: "House leadership is planning to pass the bill as early as Saturday."

From Greg Sargent (emphasis his):

It remains to be seen whether major commentators and news orgs will clearly and forthrightly reckon with — and convey to readers — how insane the GOP position here really is. I laid out the reasons for this yesterday, but the short version is that Democrats are not asking Republicans to give up anything in requesting that they support a debt limit hike. They are not asking Republicans to agree to more spending. They are not asking for new taxes. They are simply asking Republicans to join them in making it possible for Congress to pay obligations it has already incurred, and in so doing, avert economic catastrophe for the whole country. There is no rationale for giving Republicans anything in return for this.

Yet story after story portrays this as a battle in which both sides are asking the other to make concessions, and in which it remains to be seen whether a compromise will be reached. But the real ”compromise” position here is one in which Republicans and Dems cooperate to avert economic catastrophe for the country. It is not a “compromise” if Dems unilaterally give up concessions in exchange for Republican cooperation in making it possible to pay debts already incurred and thus averting economic disaster for all of us. In this scenario, Republicans aren’t giving up anything. Only Dems are.

Folks will respond to this by arguing that anything is fair game in politics, and there’s nothing really out of bounds in doing this, because, well, Republicans can. Fine – but at let’s at least describe the GOP position accurately.

[Bolo Boffin]

1. OK, here are the complete details:

One Year Debt Limit Increase

Not a dollar amount increase, but suspending the debt limit until the end of December 2014.

Similar to what we did earlier this year.

Want the year long to align with the year delay of Obamacare.

One Year Obamacare delay

Tax Reform Instructions

Similar to a bill we passed last fall, laying out broad from Ryan Budget principles for what tax reform should look like.

Gives fast track authority for tax reform legislation

Energy and regulatory reforms to promote economic growth

Includes pretty much every jobs bill we have passed this year and last Congress

All of these policies have important positive economic effects.

Energy provisions

--Keystone Pipeline

--Coal Ash regulations

--Offshore drilling

--Energy production on federal lands

--EPA Carbon regulations

Regulatory reform

--REINS Act

--Regulatory process reform

--Consent decree reform

--Blocking Net Neutrality

Mandatory Spending Reforms

Mostly from the sequester replacement bills we passed last year

Federal Employee retirement reform

Ending the Dodd Frank bailout fund

Transitioning CFPB funding to Appropriations

Child Tax Credit Reform to prevent fraud

Repealing the Social Services Block grant

Health Spending Reforms

Means testing Medicare

Repealing a Medicaid Provider tax gimmick

Tort reform

Altering Disproportion Share Hospitals

Repealing the Public Health trust Fund

As I said, these people are looney tunes.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. And people get mad when I say

Don't budge an inch. I'm not willing to compromise on a single one of those items. It's not just my ideology - it's a matter of what moves America forward.


Them playing with any of the items on this list does not move America forward. And yeah - I'm gen x . . . but anything that will even begin to touch/dismantle the social contract and safety net of the Baby Boomers is non-negotiable. Yep - some are IndieTeaPublican idiots - but a whole heck of a lot of them played by the rules and found the game had changed on them about 1995.

I don't want to live in a country where my Senior citizens eat cat food. Not gonna do it. And to pay for it - we need jobs for Gen X and younger - and the shit they have as counter points - don't create jobs.