Boehner to GOP: Grand Bargain in the Works

[brooklynite]

Source: National Review

House Republicans tell me Speaker John Boehner wants to craft a “grand bargain” on fiscal issues as part of the debt-limit deliberations, and during a series of meetings on Wednesday, he urged colleagues to stick with him.

The revelation came quietly. Boehner called groups of members to his Capitol office all day, taking their temperature on the shutdown and the debt limit. It became clear, members say, that Boehner’s chief goal is conference unity as the debt limit nears, and he’s looking at potentially blending a government-spending deal and debt-limit agreement into a larger budget package.

“It’s the return of the grand bargain,” says one House Republican, who requested anonymity to speak freely. “There weren’t a lot of specifics discussed, and the meetings were mostly about just checking in. But he’s looking hard at the debt limit as a place where we can do something big.”

Beyond Boehner’s office, the leadership is sending out a similar message through its emissaries. The House GOP’s most influential fiscal strategists, Dave Camp and Paul Ryan, are privately reassuring nervous Republicans that the federal shutdown may be painful in the short term, but a budget deal is in the works — and they should be enthused about what they’re cooking up.

Read more: http://nationalreview.com/corner/360234/boehner-gop-grand-bargain-works-robert-costa

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As long as their thinking is corrupted by their hatred of ACAS it won't be happening.

[MinneapolisMatt]

1. *snort*

[Coyotl]

32. Andy Borowitz:

[geek tragedy]

2. Boehner is begging for his conference to go in on a Grand Bargain, meaning spending increases

as the sequester would get turned off.

Fat fooking chance.

[Zorro]

3. Obama should furlough the TSA

That would shut down all commercial air traffic in the US and bring the Republicans back down to earth pretty quickly.

[Hutzpa]

5. Obama should change the terror alert to Orange. nt

[indivisibleman]

11. i like this idea

[mikeysnot]

4. Let me guess?

He is going to offer the same BS sandwich he has been "comprimising"... I mean demanding as before.

[peacebird]

6. I would guess gutting social security and other "entitlements" of the peasant class are boners plan

[OhioChick]

17. Crossed my mind, as well n/t

[tofuandbeer]

25. You're probably right.

[bhikkhu]

7. Repealing Obamacare for good

and going with the ACA instead?

[Blue Idaho]

8. Yawn...

Same Shit, Different Day.

[bloomington-lib]

9. They don't realize that it can't be done. They cannot offer turning the govt back on as a bargaining

chip. It only sets a precedent to use blackmail again, so it cannot be done. The faster they can get that into their fucking heads, the faster we can get back to business as usual.

[GatorOrange]

10. If Ryan's Thrilled...

You know "We the People" are going to get the short end of the stick!

[indivisibleman]

13. my thoughts exactly

[winter is coming]

14. Let the mansplaining begin! n/t

[AnotherMcIntosh]

12. So this time he's going to accept the chained CPI?

[pinto]

15. LOL. Good try.

(Insert some clever snarky fail! comment here)

[MSMITH33156]

16. He is looking for an exit strategy

that's all. He is trying to sell them on the Grand Bargain and then say, "but the President won't negotiate on the shutdown or debt ceiling, but if we agree to lift those, we can then have a negotiation and try to get a lot of what we want in a Grand Bargain. But until we do that, we'll be stuck."

He tied himself to the sinking Tea Party ship, and he has no way out. He can't actually deliver anything, so he needs some way to save face and vote on the clean CR and then to lift the debt ceiling without appearing to have completely wasted everyone's time and created this mess for no reason (which is what he did). So, what he will do is try to sell this Grand Bargain as a solution, set the prerequisite as raising the debt ceiling and passing the clean CR. Then, obviously the Senate and President will negotiate over a normal budget, which is something that has happened since forever after the threat is lifted. And Boehner will then say, "see, the Senate and President wouldn't negotiate before, but now because we shut the government down, they are willing to talk and we can pass a budget", capitalizing on the general populous' ignorance to not know that there is a monumental difference between negotiating on a budget bill and him threatening to shut the government down and/or not raise the debt ceiling in an attempt to extort demands. Negotiating on a budget is something the senate Dems have requested for months. But this is a way Boehner can get out of this and fake like he actually got something done with this (with the something being negotiations on a future budget).

[1StrongBlackMan]

23. Good Guess ...

I think this is exactly what will happen ... and it'll be followed by &quot President) Obama caved again" cries.

[awoke_in_2003]

18. Johnny, Johnny, Johnny...

obtain some sand, then commence to pounding it up you ass.

[Mr.Turnip]

19. Boehner does realize his leverage is nowhere near as strong as it was in 2011 right?

There the Republicans were just off of huge wins and had something of a mandate, now they are coming off of big losses and a shutdown where they are correctly getting the blame.

And hell even back in 2011 where Boehner managed to get huge concessions from Obama it still wasn't enough for the lunatic caucus he "leads" what makes him think anything he gets will be enough this time.

[jzodda]

20. This should be interesting

As long as Obama does NOT give away the barn.

A grand bargain would further inflame the civil war in the House. That I would love to see play out over these months.

I would not accept anything if I were Obama that does not take us past the 2014 elections. No more manufactured crisis. If there is no mechanism to prevent this then its no bargain at all.

[JDPriestly]

27. We don't know what Obama is really saying behind closed doors.

His prior talk of a chained CPI really worries me. I'm retired. Banks are paying practically no interest. Stocks are not something that retirees should meddle with unless they have a lot of money. We are completely dependent on Social Security as are millions of other Americans.

Obama does not value Social Security that much. His mother died in her 50s. His father also died young. His grandparents were not poor from what I can tell. He has no idea how important Social Security benefits are to 90% of Americans. Very few people who have families and educate their children can save enough to retire with security, that is, to pay their bills in retirement, on their savings.

AND THERE ARE VERY FEW JOBS FOR SENIORS.

So Social Security is a lifeline. So is Medicare.

If they cut those lifelines, no telling what will happen.

A lot of children will have to take care of their parents. That is the law in many states. If your parents become truly indigent, you are responsible for their care and support.

Cutting Social Security would really hurt the economy. Raising taxes on the rich would not hurt it nearly as much as cutting Social Security would.

You have to understand why this frightens me so much. My mother's neighbor lives on maybe $600 per month. There are lots of Americans on Social Security and similar benefits living on so little. I wonder what the NSA budget for surveillance is per year. Maybe some of that money could pay for Social Security benefits.

[jzodda]

29. I am with you

and yes it is a bit scary when I take the time to think on it.

Not caving to these lunatic republicans is very important.

[Rain Mcloud]

21. Another Grand Bargain?

Like the last ones worked out so well.

[lonestarnot]

34. Yeah this one is called a thousand points of shit to commemorate the shitdown.

[1StrongBlackMan]

22. At this point ...

boehner would attempt to sell President Obama's smiling and saying "Good Morning", as getting 98% of what he wanted in any Grand Bargain.

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. Obama: Pound sand.

[tofuandbeer]

26. The GOP does have a bad habit of making a huge wave like this shutdown...

and then putting something on the table that now appears to be something smaller, like social security.
It works every time.

[blkmusclmachine]

28. America, meet bathtub

[Matilda]

30. Can somebody please tell me

whether Obama could evoke some sort of emergency powers if the country faces default in a couple of weeks?

Could he override the Congress on this? Would he?

[Paulie]

33. No, no and no. Sorry!

Congress controls the money and the puke misleadership are too worried about their jobs and don't give a shit about anyone but themselves.

[Matilda]

35. Thanks for the info.

I hope Obama doesn't blink.

[Justice]

31. This is complete fiction. Reid said this was never discussed.

Said this to Dana Bash tonight.