In describing how the debt talks are like “two groups of people from two different planets, who barely understand each other,” Boehner says that the Democrats, “don’t want to cut spending and want to raise taxes.” This is one point that the Speaker is precisely right about.
Democrats are damned and determined to raise taxes, instead of dealing with the government's exorbitant spending addiction...but if they get those hikes, rest assured they’ll turn right around and blame Republicans when there’s a backlash from the public! You know it, as well as I do.
So now we hear that Democrats won’t give their support to any deal unless tax hikes are included? The suggestion that “House Republicans would get no Democratic help if the final package includes only spending cuts and the promise of new revenues later,” is what they're worried about? Give me a break. The exact opposite – tax hikes with the promise of future spending reductions – is what they’ve given Republicans repeatedly. Reagan went to his grave waiting on such promised spending cuts. And this is what they’d attempt to do again given the opportunity. We CANNOT give them that opportunity.
But because Republicans aren’t bending so easily to tax hikes, the DCCC is going to launch a phone campaign blaming negotiations on Republicans…never mind that Democrats haven’t come up with a plan. So it’s up to Republicans to do all the work? And then our guys are ‘working round the clock on a deal’ by Sunday afternoon to once again negotiate with the nonnegotiable? And we’re to believe that Republicans are the ‘intransigent’ ones, Harry? Where’s that mirror again.
So all we got out of that White House meeting on Saturday morning was that the debt ceiling debate and deficit reduction need to be the responsibility of Congress and not the President? An emphatic ‘Duhhh!’ Yet, the President comes out of the meeting smack-talking, while Reid and Pelosi do the same in a follow-up briefing between congressional leaders. Impressive, guys.
Call it paranoia, intuition, or both, but the more you watch the tactics of the Left and how they use confusion and panic to chaotically drive their agenda through, the more it seems as though in this particular situation that their push for tax hikes and refusal of significant spending reductions, being the complete opposite of Republicans’ goals, is probably an effort to pave the way for a no-strings-attached debt ceiling increase, simply through the process of exhaustion and frustration, and thus providing no accountable or responsibility when expanding the national debt. Supporting this hunch, what Pelosi’s telling the press about a “two-tiered approach to raising the debt ceiling and reducing the nation’s long-term budget deficit,” wreaks of such empty promises.
UPDATES: Picking up where we left off, more back-and-forth throughout the day. The White House sent their 'default' scaremonger, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, over to Fox News Sunday this morning to discuss how we need to take default off the table until after the elections...how convenient, huh? And I'll keep saying this until I'm blue in the face: what we're facing is NOT default, but rather downgrade...no one in the leadership of either party, nor the media, will admit this. Anyway, moving on. Chris Wallace also had Speaker Boehner on to discuss the next steps...
Call it paranoia, intuition, or both, but the more you watch the tactics of the Left and how they use confusion and panic to chaotically drive their agenda through, the more it seems as though in this particular situation that their push for tax hikes and refusal of significant spending reductions, being the complete opposite of Republicans’ goals, is probably an effort to pave the way for a no-strings-attached debt ceiling increase, simply through the process of exhaustion and frustration, and thus providing no accountable or responsibility when expanding the national debt. Supporting this hunch, what Pelosi’s telling the press about a “two-tiered approach to raising the debt ceiling and reducing the nation’s long-term budget deficit,” wreaks of such empty promises.
UPDATES: Picking up where we left off, more back-and-forth throughout the day. The White House sent their 'default' scaremonger, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, over to Fox News Sunday this morning to discuss how we need to take default off the table until after the elections...how convenient, huh? And I'll keep saying this until I'm blue in the face: what we're facing is NOT default, but rather downgrade...no one in the leadership of either party, nor the media, will admit this. Anyway, moving on. Chris Wallace also had Speaker Boehner on to discuss the next steps...
Fox News reports, "Unable to find common ground, Republicans and Democrats worked Sunday to prepare separate fallback plans for raising the debt ceiling as they tried to provide some assurance to the global financial markets that the country will not default on its obligations." Huhhh...they're gonna make me explain it. As long as we maintain current tax revenues, 15% of that will pay towards the interest on the debt with plenty left over to cover other obligations...NO DEFAULT! Man, they're frustrating.
And in an effort to take some of the scare tactics off the table, The Hill reports, "Members of the Senate Tea Party Caucus have met with House freshmen to discuss a plan to pressure House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to bring the Full Faith and Credit Act to the floor," which is, as Sen. Rand Paul describes, "a bill that directs by law the president to pay the interest on the debt, pay social security checks and pay soldiers’ salaries." What does it say about a President when separate rules must be drawn up by the Legislature to require the Executive to follow through with the obligations set forth in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution?! It says a lot about exactly what kind of 'president' we're dealing with. But to return to the topic of default, I'd say again to Boehner and McConnell who are constantly fretting over it, 'here's your answer!' Chances are, Reid would table this also, as this would remove a major propaganda weapon in the Democrat arsenal that the liberal media is oh so happy to use, reload, and use again.
So as it stands, leaders of both parties have returned to their respective corners, developing separate 'fallback' proposals, which is never a good thing, as we've come to see in 11th hour politics. Reid is working on a plan (that's a first) that would call for at least $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction (yep, over ten years), supposedly no revenue increases (not sure how that's gonna fly with Dems and Obama), and would raise the debt ceiling, thus more borrowing, until 2013 (past the presidential elections). Meanwhile, as The Hill reports, "A Republican leadership aide explained to The Hill that Boehner's goal is to have a plan ready for discussion at a 2 pm closed-door meeting on Monday with GOP rank-and-file members; after which the legislative text would be posted Monday night. That could set up a vote on a yet-to-be-seen proposal by Wednesday."
I'm sure we'll wake up Monday morning to see where this all goes...
