Speaker John Boehner gave an impassioned stemwinder on the floor of the House this afternoon, moments before the vote commenced on his debt ceiling plan. Calling out the president to “put something on the table,” Boehner hammered away at President Obama’s intransigence and bad faith tactics.
The bill passed with 218 Republican votes, and zero Democratic votes.
The GOP-controlled House has now passed two approaches to dealing with the debt ceiling. The Senate has passed zero. President Obama has talked alot but has not led at all. Wait — he has a “secret plan!“ Well how about lifting the veil, champ?
The Tea Party changed the conversation and moved it in the right direction. It’s simply impossible to win total victory when you don’t control all three levers. But to use a football metaphor, the Right has the ball and the Tea Party is calling the plays. That’s a lot to keep in mind. Meanwhile, the president wanted a clean vote on the debt ceililng, and didn’t get that. He wanted tax increases in the middle of a recession, and did not get that either. The unpopular president has not led; the Tea Party has.
The question is, where do we go from here? Washington is collectively scratching its head on that question. Will Reid twist the Boehner bill into something packed with more Democratic gimmicks, or will he try passing his own plan (which given Senate rules, is bound to fail at this point)?
For what it’s worth, S&P is alone so far in threatening to downgrade US credit. Moody’s says it won’t do that, at least not at this point.
Update: Jeff Flake is a smart man.
Update: Boehner writes:
The House demonstrated not arrogance, but leadership last week when a bipartisan majority — including many who came to Washington opposed to raising the debt ceiling under any circumstance — passed the Cut, Cap, & Balance Act for the greater good.
The House demonstrated not arrogance, but leadership today by passing the Budget Control Act, bowing not just to the will of the American people and their desire for a timely and responsible end to this crisis, but also to the Constitution, which gave us the reality of a bicameral legislature.
The legislation passed by the House this evening is not perfect, but it is a positive step forward in the effort to cut spending, clamp down on the growth of government, and reduce our debt.
The bill was constructed on a commonsense framework that was pre-negotiated last weekend with the bipartisan leadership of the Senate, in an honest and sincere effort to bring the crisis to an end. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats walked away from that framework over the course of this week.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a good man. His character is not in question. But the fate of this legislation, and possibly our economy, hinges on his ability to reason with the president, and with his caucus.
The people’s House has spoken — not once, but twice — presenting the other chamber with legislation certified by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office as cutting trillions of dollars in spending over the next decade while providing an immediate increase in the national debt limit.
If you’re keeping score at home, that House 2, Senate 0. Obama is still armchair quarterbacking.
Update: Boehner bill defeated in Senate.
i’m guessing the bill gets nuke’d in the senate; stripped of even the flaccid spending/debt details; gets sent back to the house; obama gets to spin and blame house who will then blame tea party and the end result is crappola
I’ll say it “Obama is a coward!” he refuses to lead. He is acting like a spoiled child who holds his breath and stomps his foot until he gets what he wants his way. The democrats are acting just like him, you have just heard from 200+ citizens of the United States compromise and 54 people are holding up the country! Cowards all of them, step up and vote don’t hide behind Harry Reid! Vote the way your constitutiets would want you to Consider all of them not just your party followers!
Obama and his secret plan bring new meaning to the concept of Zero-Based Budgeting.
Good one!
Something gets agreed on in conference, the debt limit is raised, Obama says it was because of his leadership the Nation Was Saved.
I really dislike your current president.
We dislike him too. Peggy Noonan laid him out pretty well today.
I like John Boehner! He is doing a great job.
Peggy Noonan? I suppose it’s a good thing when even senile old RINOs can see what a loser our president is. OTOH, it’s about 3 years too late and without, as far as I know, any apology for being such an unmitigated horse’s ass during the campaign.
Pardon my french.
Ms. Noonan, a previous cheerleader for The Won, has put down her pom-poms and called the president a loser. In print. Big as life. Harder for Bambi and the other American-destroyers to continue the pretense of a few years ago. She’s an important challenger to his centrist-facade. Admittedly it took her longer than some but that’s OK, she’s there now. She’s not part of the lapdog journo crowd who are afraid of President Thinskin.
Shortly before the bill went to a vote, I was watching CNN while they interviewed the Dem Whip(?). In the interest of unbiased reporting they had a little graphic at the bottom of the screen showing two elephants with straw hats and the caption “Right Off The Cliff” while the commentator fed straight lines to the Whip. You just got to love the state run press.
["I’ll say it “Obama is a coward!”]
How does your assessment have anything to do the the constitutional mandate upon congress to legislate?
The president is require by congress to submit a proposal budget (A PLAN) for the executive branch by February 4th of each year. He did that!
Congress didn’t like the presidents proposal! Instead of preparing a FY 2012 bill of their own they (the House Tea party folks) went off on a ‘political’ tactic to achieve a minorities special political interest campaign….void of any proposed $$$ for each of the departments, agencies and corporations functions of the executive branch.
Throughout this debacle….. the president publically and privately ask the congress to deliver to him ‘their’ proposed FY 2012 budget.
The House Tea Party folks sent out the Ryan-outline that, as best could be scored would signficantly increase the debt over ten years with cuts to medicare. It was rat-holed by the senate and rejected by…. the president.
Then with no movement by the House and senate the…..president…summoned the leadership of the House and Senate to a series of White House negotiations led by the…president and vice president.
The…president…. layed out ‘his’ plan of yea’s and nay’s for any budget bills comming to his desk.
At the same time the ….president….offered upon the negotiations table $3 Trillion dollars in cuts and $1 trillion dollars in revenue AND approaching cuts in SS, Medicare and Medicaid….a PLAN!
The Tea Party House rejected it on its face! The Senate majority being ‘essentially’ moot.
Now, the….president…having his plan rejected on its face by the Tea Party House left the ball in the Tea party House’ lap.
From there and to present, its been the Tea party House playing politics rather than governing. Political battles within the GOP body and the progressive dems sitting to the side watching the special interest circus perpetrated by the minority Tea Party folks of the GOP.
House body = 435
Tea Party seats = 87
That hardly represents government on behalf of the nations majority!
If the table were turn and it was 87 progressives trying to represent their will upon the nations majority with the same tactics you folks would be even deeper in insanity mode.
“And the Next Move Is…?”
Vote Constitution or Libertarian Party.
This!!!
And hand the next election to the Democrats. Good thinking.
So now the print press and MSM go into turbo-charged overdrive blaming the GOP, even though it was the only party with proposals. Obama re-elected by 49%, ends his second term with 33% approval?
Senator Reid stating that the bill is “dead on arrival” without debate is an uncaring remark to those of us expecting thoughtful examination of the House’s hard work. I find that disrespectful to the House Members and to us citizens. Senator Reid said that he has 53 no votes. There are 21 Democrat and 2 Independent seats up for 2012 election; with the Congress polling in record disapproval ratings,some face a tough fight back home. Senator may be having his 53 votes at this time,let the debates begin. There will be no veto after all this, his disapproval rating will plummet even more.
Senator Reid’s and the President’s arrogance and disrespect for the House’s bill may have a backlash later, when appropriations are needed and needs the House vote.
Obama DOES have a “secret plan” — he got it from the Black Adder’s dogsbody, Baldrick.
Come off it. Not even Baldrick is that low in the scheme of things.