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GOP Prepares For Surrender On Debt Ceiling And Shutdown
GOP Prepares For Surrender On Debt Ceiling And Shutdown
Republicans demanded a king-size ransom and are poised to walk away with virtually nothing.
The majority House GOP has flamed out, unable to settle on any proposal to lift the debt ceiling and avert a catastrophic default. And now, according to Senate sources, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has agreed to vote on a deal negotiated by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
The expectation is the House will go first, the sources said, which will speed up the process of Senate passage by several days. Most House Republicans will probably vote against the bill, which means he'll have to pass it with the support of Democrats -- a move he has tried to so hard to avoid he shut down the government over it 16 days ago and has come within one day of hitting the debt ceiling deadline.
The Senate deal lifts the debt ceiling through Feb. 7, re-opens the shuttered government through Jan. 15 and sets up bicameral budget conference tasked with sending policy recommendations by Dec. 13. It will include a provision to enforce a part of Obamacare where subsidy recipients have to verify their income eligibility first. It won't include a previously considered plan to delay a reinsurance tax under the health care law. Ultimately neither side will offer major concessions.
<...>
The move would be a total surrender for Republicans, which had demanded a defunding of Obamacare (or at least a dismantling of it) to fund the government and a grab-bag of conservative goodies to lift the borrowing limit ahead of a Thursday deadline. The shutdown that took place on Oct. 1 has badly damaged the GOP's standing among voters, multiple polls show.
- more -
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/gop-prepares-for-surrender-on-debt-ceiling-and-shutdown
Republicans demanded a king-size ransom and are poised to walk away with virtually nothing.
The majority House GOP has flamed out, unable to settle on any proposal to lift the debt ceiling and avert a catastrophic default. And now, according to Senate sources, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has agreed to vote on a deal negotiated by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
The expectation is the House will go first, the sources said, which will speed up the process of Senate passage by several days. Most House Republicans will probably vote against the bill, which means he'll have to pass it with the support of Democrats -- a move he has tried to so hard to avoid he shut down the government over it 16 days ago and has come within one day of hitting the debt ceiling deadline.
The Senate deal lifts the debt ceiling through Feb. 7, re-opens the shuttered government through Jan. 15 and sets up bicameral budget conference tasked with sending policy recommendations by Dec. 13. It will include a provision to enforce a part of Obamacare where subsidy recipients have to verify their income eligibility first. It won't include a previously considered plan to delay a reinsurance tax under the health care law. Ultimately neither side will offer major concessions.
<...>
The move would be a total surrender for Republicans, which had demanded a defunding of Obamacare (or at least a dismantling of it) to fund the government and a grab-bag of conservative goodies to lift the borrowing limit ahead of a Thursday deadline. The shutdown that took place on Oct. 1 has badly damaged the GOP's standing among voters, multiple polls show.
- more -
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/gop-prepares-for-surrender-on-debt-ceiling-and-shutdown
Signs Indicate That Obama’s Debt Ceiling Gamble May Be Paying Off
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023861031
Flashback:
Boehner: Clean Debt Limit Would Be 'Unconditional Surrender' For GOP
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said Tuesday afternoon that a "clean" debt ceiling increase, as Democrats are demanding, would amount to "unconditional surrender" for Republicans.
"At times like this, the American people expect their leaders to sit down and have a conversation. I want that conversation to occur now," he told reporters. "What the president said today was if there's unconditional surrender by Republicans, he will sit down and talk to us. That's not the way our government works."
The Speaker refused to budge on the eighth day of the government shutdown on funding the government or averting default without preconditions.
"I didn't come down here to shut down the government," he said. "I certainly didn't come here to default on the debt."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/boehner-clean-debt-limit-would-be-unconditional-surrender-for-gop
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said Tuesday afternoon that a "clean" debt ceiling increase, as Democrats are demanding, would amount to "unconditional surrender" for Republicans.
"At times like this, the American people expect their leaders to sit down and have a conversation. I want that conversation to occur now," he told reporters. "What the president said today was if there's unconditional surrender by Republicans, he will sit down and talk to us. That's not the way our government works."
The Speaker refused to budge on the eighth day of the government shutdown on funding the government or averting default without preconditions.
"I didn't come down here to shut down the government," he said. "I certainly didn't come here to default on the debt."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/boehner-clean-debt-limit-would-be-unconditional-surrender-for-gop
John Boehner: Worst. Speaker. Ever.
Mr. Tears is a clown.
A failure for the ages
By Steve Benen
I find it relatively easy to feel sorry for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). He's weak and inept, but most of the ridiculous things that happen among House Republicans aren't by Boehner's design. The Speaker didn't want the 2011 debt-ceiling crisis; he didn't to hold several dozen votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act; and he didn't want the government shutdown he forced last night. They're all the result of a radicalized caucus he doesn't control, want, or influence.
But Jonathan Cohn makes the case that what Boehner needs isn't pity; it's blame.
As he's proven, leading isn't Boehner's principle goal. The Speaker wants to hang on to his power, his nice office, and his lovely gavel, and if that means going out of his way to placate extremists so they don't get mad at him, so be it.
That might be pathetic, but it's also the foundation of his job security.
Indeed, in the larger context, it seems the political mainstream is still coming to terms with a dynamic for which there is no modern precedent: a Speaker of the House with no power, no backbone, no accomplishments, and no prospects for success. Boehner isn't just failing in basic tasks, he's failing as Speaker at a historic level.
- more -
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/01/20772599-a-failure-for-the-ages
By Steve Benen
I find it relatively easy to feel sorry for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). He's weak and inept, but most of the ridiculous things that happen among House Republicans aren't by Boehner's design. The Speaker didn't want the 2011 debt-ceiling crisis; he didn't to hold several dozen votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act; and he didn't want the government shutdown he forced last night. They're all the result of a radicalized caucus he doesn't control, want, or influence.
But Jonathan Cohn makes the case that what Boehner needs isn't pity; it's blame.
He's in a difficult position, for sure, but it's partly one of his own making. Sometimes leadership means telling followers what they can and can't do. In this case, that should have meant telling Tea Party Republicans they can't get rid of Obamacare, because it became law, was upheld by the Supreme Court, and validated by a presidential election. Boehner tried to say something along those lines after the election, but conservatives howled and -- as usual -- he backed down, promising the right they'd get their chance. Now they expect it to happen.
It won't. And at some point Boehner needs to say so. It will mean taking political risks, but that's what leaders do.
As he's proven, leading isn't Boehner's principle goal. The Speaker wants to hang on to his power, his nice office, and his lovely gavel, and if that means going out of his way to placate extremists so they don't get mad at him, so be it.
That might be pathetic, but it's also the foundation of his job security.
Indeed, in the larger context, it seems the political mainstream is still coming to terms with a dynamic for which there is no modern precedent: a Speaker of the House with no power, no backbone, no accomplishments, and no prospects for success. Boehner isn't just failing in basic tasks, he's failing as Speaker at a historic level.
- more -
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/01/20772599-a-failure-for-the-ages
10 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Since he is likely to no longer be speaker he can take up high stakes poker to support himself. 
