Here’s how they fool the Tea Party: GOP votes to disapprove of selves

[DonViejo]

Silly votes will allow Senate Republicans to govern and claim to be conservatives. But they won't satisfy anyone

BY ALEX PAREENE

On Tuesday, the Senate held a vote on a “resolution to disapprove” of raising the debt limit. The resolution failed 45-54. The 45 disapprovers were all Republicans. Twenty-seven of the Republicans voting to disapprove of raising the debt limit also voted, just a few weeks ago, to raise the debt limit. Do those 27 Republican senators disapprove of their own votes because raising the debt limit turned out to be a terrible mistake with disastrous consequences? No. They voted to disapprove of their own actions because a group of loud and angry people disapprove of their actions.

The face-saving “resolution to disapprove” measure seems to derive from a a 2011 McConnell idea that would have preserved the debt limit as a grandstanding ploy without actually risking default. In McConnell’s plan, the president would be allowed to increase debt limit a little bit at a time, and the Congress would then vote on whether to disapprove of the raises or not. It’s actually pretty brilliant politics, as it would have done two things:

Forced President Obama to raise the debt limit, which is always politically unpopular, three times in one (election) year.

Allowed every single Republican in Congress to vote against raising the debt limit without worrying that the U.S. would actually default.

full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/30/heres_how_they_fool_the_tea_party_gop_votes_to_disapprove_of_selves/