Senate to vote on long-term debt ceiling hike, while Senate GOP plots poison pills

[ProSense]

Senate to vote on long-term debt ceiling hike, while Senate GOP plots poison pills

by Joan McCarter

The Senate is set to vote Saturday on a long-term debt ceiling bill, one that would extend the debt ceiling until December 31, 2014. Reid's got a united Democratic caucus behind the effort, but could face some Republican opposition. The question is how much, and whether Senate Republicans—who are fed up with House Republicans—will use the opportunity to try advance their own plan devised by Sen. Susan Collins.

Senate Democrats were intrigued by Collins’s proposal but unhappy with its demand for Democratic concessions. Those would include the repeal of a tax on medical devices that helps fund Obama’s health-care law, the Affordable Care Act, and new income-verification procedures for people who receive tax subsidies to buy health insurance on the law’s new exchanges.

In addition, Collins’s proposal would maintain deep cuts known as sequestration through at least March, although it would grant agencies greater flexibility to decide where the cuts would fall. Sequestration remains a red flag for the White House and many Democrats, who want to restore funding for domestic programs.

Since Collins also demands concessions, it could flop. Or not, if Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden revise their old fiscal cliff roles and take over negotiations. The medical-device tax repeal could actually find a venue in these talks, as plenty of Democrats—who have device manufacturers in their states—are supportive. But the income verification piece, taken from House legislation, is a lot more problematic. It would essentially shut the law down, because as of January 1, there would not be a system in place for the extent of income verification Republicans are demanding. That means no subsidies could be offered to those who qualify for them. That means most of the uninsured trying to buy insurance on the exchanges would not be able to afford the premiums. That's a deal breaker.

How Saturday's debt ceiling bill proceeds will probably largely depend on how the Senate Republicans do with the White House, where they presented the plan Friday morning.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/11/1246334/-Senate-to-vote-on-long-term-debt-ceiling-hike-while-Senate-GOP-plots-poison-nbsp-pills

Dear GOP: When just 15 percent of the country agrees with you, you don't have political leverage
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/11/1246088/-Dear-GOP-When-just-15-percent-of-the-country-agrees-with-you-you-don-t-have-political-leverage

Republican support in 'jaw-dropping' free fall
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023827531

[BlueCaliDem]

1. Maine needs to get rid of Senator Collins in 2014.

She is NO different than Mitch McConnell, and the people of Maine need to come to that realization and vote in either another Independent or a Democrat.

[ProSense]

3. Yup. n/t

[The Magistrate]

2. Hear Hear, Ma'am!

"That's the stuff to give the Hun!"