Another mortifying McConnell head-banging-against-the-wall moment

[Valin]

Michelle Malkin :

Michelle Malkin

Longtime readers are familiar with our time-honored tradition of marking inevitable Senate GOP sellout moments with the head-banging-against-the-wall animated gif.

Well, it is time to resurrect it again to commemorate Mitch McConnell’s latest maneuver that would give President Obama new power to automatically increase the federal debt limit. It’s a convoluted way of abandoning the fight for fiscal sanity altogether and leaving the mess in the Democrats’ enhanced control.



Here’s the AP newsflash: “WASHINGTON (AP) _ GOP Leader McConnell proposes giving Obama new power for automatic debt limit increase.”

Here’s Rich Lowry: “It’s beginning to get out on the Hill. It’s complicated, but here is the gist as I understand it: Congress authorizes in legislation the president to submit a request for an increase in the debt limit in three tranches over the next year or so, with corresponding proposals for spending cuts; when the president submits his request, Congress immediately considers a resolution of disapproval; if the resolution passes, the president can veto it and–assuming his veto is subsequently upheld–he gets the increase in the debt limit. Got it? More later…”
(Snip)

Red State is not happy....

[Valin]

OTOH Fred Barnes Loves it.

[Sabre86]

It will never pass the House and McConnell knows it.

[Argyle58]

This can't be true. If it does come to pass we will be giving a book full of blank checks to the biggest spending president in the history of the country. I won't believe it of McConnell until I hear him say it.

[Sabre86]

I don't consider Malkin to be a reliable source since she is prone to hysteria and going off without knowing any real facts, but this one is right. It's been reported in other sources.

[Valin]

This can't be true. If it does come to pass we will be giving a book full of blank checks to the biggest spending president in the history of the country. I won't believe it of McConnell until I hear him say it.

 

 

Click Here

[Valin]

The Corner: Get your Score Card Here

[Argyle58]

This can't be true. If it does come to pass we will be giving a book full of blank checks to the biggest spending president in the history of the country. I won't believe it of McConnell until I hear him say it.

 

 

Click Here

 

A recipe for disaster. Imagine if the "o" had had this power with the last Congress and a crisis of this type had appeared. We would become a third world country over night.

[Valin]

This can't be true. If it does come to pass we will be giving a book full of blank checks to the biggest spending president in the history of the country. I won't believe it of McConnell until I hear him say it.

 

 

Click Here

 

A recipe for disaster. Imagine if the "o" had had this power with the last Congress and a crisis of this type had appeared. We would become a third world country over night.

 

 

OTOH It has to pass the House.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Townhall:

Earlier today, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a strongly-worded speech on the ongoing debt negotiations, and Democrats' failures of leadership. The first five minutes or so serve as a helpful recap of the timeline of events leading up to this impasse, but his bottom line begins at the 15:15 mark:

Having thrown down this gauntlet, McConnell is introducing an alternative compromise that would, in all likelihood, allow the president to get his debt ceiling increase -- but not without paying a bruising political price. Here's what the deal entails, as explained by a senior Republican aide familiar with its details. First some important background:

"Sen. McConnell has been in talks with Obama and Democrats. We wanted to do something serious and big. Yesterday, he asked point blank how much the Biden-led deal would actually cut from next year's budget. The answer he received was $2 Billion, and it's all smoke and mirrors. In exchange, [Democrats] want $1 Trillion in tax hikes. It's not the kind of deal we're at all interested in. We won't accept guaranteed tax hikes in exchange for fantasy future spending cuts. It's not going to happen. We're going to fight like hell to do what we've said we want: Real spending cuts and caps, a vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment, and real entitlement reform. So this plan is a fallback option if all else fails. It's modeled after the Congressional Review Act of the 1990s -- which establishes expedited procedures by which Congress can disapprove executive agencies' rules by way of a resolution of disapproval."

Now that the table is set, here's how the proposed plan would work: Republicans in Congress would agree to vote on legislation authorizing the president to propose three separate incremental debt ceiling increases, spaced over the remainder of his term. He would be required to couple each request with a corresponding set of spending cuts that exceed the dollar amount of his sought-after debt limit hike. These cuts would be of his choosing alone. The first pair of requests would come prior to the August 2 deadline. It would be for roughly $700 Billion. The next requests, for $900 Billion, would come in the fall, and the final tranche (also for $900 Billion) would be scheduled for summer of 2012 -- in the thick of the campaign cycle.
________

Republicans call Obama's bluff on the looming default showdown. Will it work?

[Valin]

DeMint: McConnell plan going nowhere

[Valin]

WSJ: McConnell Plan Gets Support From Reid

COREY BOLES

7/13/11

 

WASHINGTON—The top Senate Democrat commended his Republican counterpart for proposing a plan to ensure the country's debt ceiling is increased in case Congress fails to reach agreement on a major deficit-reduction package before an Aug. 2 deadline.

 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said Wednesday that while he was still reviewing the details of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's plan, he was glad the Kentuckian had come forward with it.

 

(Snip)

 

Can we say Kiss Of Death?