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The House of Nero
Author: BobR
Date: 07/29/2011 12:55:54
With the clock ticking away, and the country watching with grim pessimism, the U.S. House of Representatives continues to lock horns within itself, resulting in a deadlock of paralysis. Only a couple days remain for some sort of resolution to the debt ceiling problem, and a solution seems even further away than earlier in the week. At a time when pragmatism and compromise is required for the good of the country (and even the world), ideology seems to be trumping common sense, and even patriotism.
There are 3 blocs of Republicans dickering over the contents of a Grand Bargain. There are those in favor of the bill (Speaker Boehner and maybe half of the Republican House reps), there are those that are against any raising of the debt ceiling - period (the Tea Partiers), and there are those that think the bill is too much (moderate Republicans). Where once the Republican party was an unassailable lock-step-marching machine, they have now broken down into squabbling factions (not unlike Democrats).
It's a real mess:
Not that it matters if the bill passes:
If this was something like - say... a healthcare bill, it wouldn't matter. There is a very real deadline though, and the consequences of failure are dire. It has long-term Republican advisers scratching their heads, including former Reagan domestic policy adviser Bruce Bartlett:
There are also a couple of Tweets from former Republican Chairman Michael Steele:
#1: "No vote tonight? Forget the Grand Bargain, where the hell is the Grand Strategy?"
#2: "They're still looking for the ball"
It seems clear the Senate won't pass the House bill, and unlikely that the House would pass the Senate bill. Where does that leave us? It may end up that President Obama has to issue an executive order, constitutionality be damned. We knew that any progress was going to grind to a halt once the Republicans took over the House, but this is one case where progress is required. The House is burning, and the members are too busy pissing on each other to piss on flames and put the fire out. I hope they don't end up take us all down with them.
There are 3 blocs of Republicans dickering over the contents of a Grand Bargain. There are those in favor of the bill (Speaker Boehner and maybe half of the Republican House reps), there are those that are against any raising of the debt ceiling - period (the Tea Partiers), and there are those that think the bill is too much (moderate Republicans). Where once the Republican party was an unassailable lock-step-marching machine, they have now broken down into squabbling factions (not unlike Democrats).
It's a real mess:
In a major blow to House Speaker John Boehner, the Republican Whip office postponed the vote on a debt ceiling package yet again late Thursday night due to a lack of support within the caucus. The speaker is holding a closed-door meeting with his defiant party members this morning, urging them to back the bill.
The House originally intended to vote on the measure early this week, but the vote was canceled when conservative House members complained that Boehner's plan to raise the debt ceiling for six months--which would slow the growth of government spending by about $900 billion over a decade--did not meet their demands. Boehner revamped the bill by adding even more cuts, and announced a new vote scheduled tentatively for Thursday morning.
[..]
Throughout the day, Boehner called House members into his office one by one for a series of personal arm-twisting sessions. But after several of these meetings, Republicans filed out of Boehner's office to announce they were standing firm in their opposition. Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert boldly proclaimed he was a "bloody, beaten down no" on Boehner's plan. A few members even said they were heading directly to the Capitol chapel to pray after their meetings.
With the clock ticking toward the scheduled vote time around 6:00 p.m., Republican leaders still had not secured the few defectors needed to pull it off. Just moments before the bill was to be brought to the floor, Republicans yanked it and said they would hold another vote later that night.
Not that it matters if the bill passes:
In the Democratic-controlled Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid kept his own members waiting in the wings for the House to vote. Reid said that his chamber would vote to kill the Boehner bill immediately after it passed the House. (Reid announced Friday morning that instead of waiting on the House, the Senate would vote on his debt ceiling package, which includes fewer cuts but would allow enough money to keep the limit raised until 2013.)
If this was something like - say... a healthcare bill, it wouldn't matter. There is a very real deadline though, and the consequences of failure are dire. It has long-term Republican advisers scratching their heads, including former Reagan domestic policy adviser Bruce Bartlett:
“I think at this point, there’s nothing that can pass the House of Representatives,” he said.
“I think a good chunk of the Republican caucus is either stupid, crazy, ignorant or craven cowards, who are desperately afraid of the tea party people, and rightly so.”
There are also a couple of Tweets from former Republican Chairman Michael Steele:
#1: "No vote tonight? Forget the Grand Bargain, where the hell is the Grand Strategy?"
#2: "They're still looking for the ball"
It seems clear the Senate won't pass the House bill, and unlikely that the House would pass the Senate bill. Where does that leave us? It may end up that President Obama has to issue an executive order, constitutionality be damned. We knew that any progress was going to grind to a halt once the Republicans took over the House, but this is one case where progress is required. The House is burning, and the members are too busy pissing on each other to piss on flames and put the fire out. I hope they don't end up take us all down with them.
