Topic: They Are Not Serious

[Pandora]

Senator Helms once said, “Compromise, hell! That’s what has happened to us all down the line — and that’s the very cause of our woes. If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?”

The Democrats and Republicans in Washington may be trying to compromise, but they just aren’t that serious. They really aren’t. And now a bunch of House Republicans are going wobbly, backing down from holding the line, and willing to take John Boehner’s plan — a compromise wherein they are compromising only with themselves.

According to Forbes, a ratings downgrade would be worse than a technical default. Unfortunately, sources who have spoken to Standards & Poor tell CNN’s Erin Burnett that John Boehner’s plan — the one Allen West and others are lining up to support — would cause the U.S. to lose its AAA credit rating.

Why? No, ti has nothing to do with John Boehner embracing the McConnell idea of letting the President raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval and then letting Congress vote to “disapprove”. But it does that too.

No, it’s because the credit reporting agencies have said the U.S. Congress must show real cuts of $4 trillion or more. John Boehner’s plan doesn’t even come close in real dollar terms — excluding accounting gimmicks the credit agencies are not buying. John Boehner’s plan could best be called “Punt, Kick, and Pass.” It punts the problem to another stupid commission, kicks the can down the road, and passes more debt onto future generations.

So here is the great conundrum for the House GOP. Reid’s plan cannot pass the House. John Boehner’s plan probably can. Ultimately, John Boehner’s plan and Harry Reid’s plan are pretty close and both would probably result in a credit downgrade.

I suspect the House and Senate will use Boehner’s plan as a compromise and get it passed. House Republicans may think they’ll get another bite at the apple, but this could be it. But then, when the credit agencies downgrade our credit, the GOP will get the blame because it was the GOP’s plan that passed. Don’t believe me? I’d just point out Harry Reid intentionally opted not to have the debt ceiling fight back in December because he wanted Republicans to own it.

In fact, there is only one plan ready to go that meets the credit agencies’ demands for substantial cuts. It is called “Cut, Cap, and Balance.” It is only four votes shy of a majority in the United States Senate.

John Boehner has succeeded in dividing conservatives, even though many of them acknowledge Boehner’s plan will cause a credit downgrade.

It need not be this way. House Republicans could hold the line. They’ve compromised enough. Why not fight instead? Fight for cut, cap, and balance. it’s the only plan to avoid a credit downgrade.

The House GOP need not compromise. President Obama cannot afford to be the first President in American history to witness a default or credit downgrade. We’ve had 17 commissions in 30 years to cut our debt and the debt has gone up $13 trillion. What the House GOP is proposing is more of the same.

I interviewed Donald Trump last week and he pointed out the House Republicans are terrible negotiators. He said if the House GOP were fighting the revolutionary war, we’d still be British.

Instead of compromising with themselves, Republicans should hold the line on cut, cap, and balance and fight on.

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2011/07/26/they-just-arent-serious/

[IronDioPriest]

Beohner has failed every time it counts. I think his intentions are good. But if I were to hold him to the same standard as Barack Hussein Obama, I would begin to wonder if he's doing it on purpose.

[Pandora]

Beohner has failed every time it counts. I think his intentions are good. But if I were to hold him to the same standard as Barack Hussein Obama, I would begin to wonder if he's doing it on purpose.

Of course he's doing it on purpose, but, as you write, his intentions are good .... mostly.  He's afraid, I reckon, and, since he appears to have no fixed principles, vacillates because he is not sure what the right course is.  I believe he's worried about the country, but he's more worried about John Boehner's future -- what the press and people will say about him today, about his re-election chances, and what history will say about him.

Past a certain near-future, nobody will remember Boehner except as one among many who failed, unlike Jesse Helms -- see the above quote.

[Pandora]

Boehner just on with Rush and just as I thought:  the "cuts" are scheduled over a ten-year period; Duh Wun gets his 1 trillion right away.

 

[IronDioPriest]

Boehner just on with Rush and just as I thought:  the "cuts" are scheduled over a ten-year period; Duh Wun gets his 1 trillion right away.

 

I heard Rand Paul on Beck for a few moments this AM, and he stressed that any "cuts" are cuts in the projected government growth of $9,000,000,000,000 over ten years.

If they cut $2,000,000,000,000 over ten years, it means they are reducing the projected growth of the federal budget from $9,000,000,000,000 down to $7,000,000,000,000.

I like to type the zeros because it illustrates how incredibly f**ked we are and how badly the people who led us down this path need to be punished.

[Pandora]

Boehner just on with Rush and just as I thought:  the "cuts" are scheduled over a ten-year period; Duh Wun gets his 1 trillion right away.

 

I heard Rand Paul on Beck for a few moments this AM, and he stressed that any "cuts" are cuts in the projected government growth of $9,000,000,000,000 over ten years.

If they cut $2,000,000,000,000 over ten years, it means they are reducing the projected growth of the federal budget from $9,000,000,000,000 down to $7,000,000,000,000.

I like to type the zeros because it illustrates how incredibly f**ked we are and how badly the people who led us down this path need to be punished.

No real cuts, just a slight reduction in what they intended to spend, so Leviathan gets even more Leviathan-er.

I'm going shopping for a $100 item with a $10 off coupon; look Ma!  I "saved" money!

I'm sort of babbling here, trying to get my mind around the idea that Boehner knows exactly what he's doing -- that it's bad wrong -- and he fully intends to do it anyway.

I don't even know what to do now; how to act.  Everything Gunsmith and I ever worked for, lived frugally to save ... will be nothing more than pretty paper soon.

[Glock32]

Not to mention, they spout off these figures as if they're making deep cuts, when basically what they're saying is "we'll cut $2 Trillion ten years from now, if the Congressional sessions that occur between now and then don't completely throw out these projections as is their prerogative to do".

I'm pretty much to the point where I think it's time to just forget the political arena. It's on an unalterable trajectory to national destruction and it's not going to change. Mark Steyn has described it as our depraved political class sending a message to the world that the US government is incapable of meaningful course correction. I just want the S to HTF and the sooner the better. Time to pull the plug.

[IronDioPriest]

...I just want the S to HTF and the sooner the better. Time to pull the plug.

I'd like a few more years for my kids to mature.

[IronDioPriest]

House conservatives confident Boehner doesn’t have votes

House conservatives are confident that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) does not have the votes at present to pass his debt-ceiling plan, and they are pushing for changes to it.

“I am confident that as of this morning that there are not 218 Republicans in support of the plan,” said Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (Ohio), who said he is voting against the plan....

More at thehill...

[Glock32]

...I just want the S to HTF and the sooner the better. Time to pull the plug.

I'd like a few more years for my kids to mature.

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's just so frustrating that "our" pols act like it's pulling teeth just to keep them from caving in to media pressure...let alone actively advancing our own agenda.

I've always noticed that the longer your area goes without a thunderstorm, the stronger it seems to be when one finally does erupt. That's the way I feel vis-a-vis the GOP and their consistent failure to provide a proper and constructive outlet for our dissatisfaction.