On the brink of a potentially historic piece of legislation passed by the House and sent to the Senate, in which according to a new CNN poll, “Americans showing overwhelming support for the House Republican approach to the debt limit crisis. Specifically, 66 percent of Americans favor a deal where both houses of Congresses pass a balance budget amendment, and substantial cuts and caps on future spending, in exchange for a debt limit hike,” an excellent Washington Examiner piece from Mark Tapscott asks, “Have you noticed the unstated assumption shaping much of the reporting and commentary on the Gang of Six (Go6) plan and the Cut, Cap and Balance Act of 2011 (CCB) just passed by the House?” We certainly have!
Even though Gang of Six members are conceding that their ‘plan’ consists of mostly “concepts” far from any legislative language that would meet an August 2nd deadline, the media has nonetheless latched onto it like the bipartisan Holy Grail. Tapscott writes, “Contrast that highly positive portrayal of Go6 with the endlessly repeated prediction by the same people that CCB is "doomed" and "futile" because it will "never pass the Senate" and Obama has promised to veto it,” but brilliantly points to something that the mainstream media continues to ignore, “At least 67 members of the Senate have at one time or another in recent years promised to vote for either a balanced budget or a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget. That count, according to Sen. Jim DeMint, R-SC, includes 22 Democrats.” And here’s at least 20 of them!
As Tapscott concludes, “In case Senator Reid didn’t notice, a bipartisan ‘Gang of 234’ just sent him the way forward. It’s called the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act.” Well, it appears that he has taken notice, and despite his and 19 others’ past comments supporting a balanced budget, Reid and most of the other top scaremongers have begun their campaign of demagoguery and deceit in an all-out assault on the Act. So much so that The Hill now reports that Reid says he’s going to change the date for a procedural vote on the CCB Act from Saturday morning to Friday in an effort that it will be “disposed of one way or the other.” In reading the rest of Reid’s statements on this move, he sounds particularly ticked and deranged. Perhaps it has something to do with this? (Also from The Hill):
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) confronted White House budget director Jack Lew during a Thursday afternoon meeting about secret talks on a deficit-reduction deal between the president and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). “I’m the Senate majority leader — why don’t I know about this deal?” Reid demanded as soon as the budget director walked into the historic Mansfield Room for a meeting with Senate Democrats, according to a lawmaker who witnessed the exchange. Lew shot back: “If there’s a deal, then the president doesn’t know about it, the vice president doesn’t know about it and I don’t know about it.”
Say what? Yes, even before we get an up-or-down vote on the CCB Act, by mid-day Thursday, from all appearances (i.e., ‘leaks’), it seems as though Boehner and Obama are attempting to brochure a backroom deal. From the National Journal…
The White House and House Republican leaders are discussing a large deal to raise the debt ceiling that would include about $3 trillion in deficit cuts over 10 years, according to several congressional aides. The aides, who declined to be named because they weren't authorized to speak publicly, said the proposal’s outline is broadly similar to a plan discussed previously by President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and a "Gang of Six" proposal to cut about $3.7 trillion in a decade, with the major exception that it would not raise significant tax revenue. The gang proposal, by contrast, would seek $1 trillion of its deficit cuts from new tax revenue.
…to The Hill…
Democratic aides on Thursday said the White House and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) were moving closer to a deal to reduce federal deficits and raise the debt ceiling. Democrats were told Wednesday night that Obama is prepared to cut a deal with Boehner that would include spending cuts and concrete entitlement reforms, according to two senior Democratic aides. The aides said the deal would only include the promise of tax reform next year. This would represent a major concession, the aides said, since it would not include any concrete revenue increases as part of the deal.
…and even after calling Rush Limbaugh Thursday and emphatically stating that ‘there is no deal’…
…it appears that such is not the case. Why else is he buying into the notion of defaulting based on the President’s desire to raise the debt ceiling? Why is Boehner preparing his members for a ‘compromise’ on the debt ceiling? Cut, Cap & Balance IS the compromise!
Shifting between the weakness and fear of McConnell and Boehner, Mark Levin directly addressed the Speaker’s actions on Thursday’s show, “Speaker Boehner has let the Republicans and the conservatives down. What exactly was he talking about with President Obama in those secret debt talk meetings? And why does he enjoy leaving the American people out to dry and to have even more of a tremendous debt left to pay in the future? The Republican Establishment is frustrated that the conservative base and the American people aren't just going to sit back and let our leaders tell us what to do. They work for us, we don't work for them. What is so wrong about us being concerned about our future?” So right…
What the hell is going on in our Country, specifically on Capitol Hill, and why are the People purposefully being left out, particularly when the majority passionately says CUT, CAP AND BALANCE!?!
To serve is not to rule...something often forgotten, just short of abandonment, by far too many on Capitol Hill.
