One of the most influential Democratic operatives in Washington says the GOP plan to extract enormous conservative concessions from President Obama in exchange for raising the debt ceiling will backfire. If Republicans push ahead with this tactic, they’ll be forced to backpedal quickly.
“That that’s like playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun. I think that gun’s actually pointed at the Republican leadership’s head, not so much at the White House,” John Podesta told me after a presentation at his think tank, the Center for American Progress. “I think they will find soon enough that if they try the same tactics they used in the 2011 [spending] battle with respect to the debt limit, you’re going to see markets react to that in a very, very negative way and there’s going to be a lot of pressure on them to get realistic, and at least with respect to the debt limit, to move forward in a more cooperative way.”
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and the rest of the GOP’s top brass on Capitol Hill insist they won’t increase the country’s debt limit without first securing a major policy victory. It’s unclear exactly what they’ll demand, but their top priorities this Congress have been repeal of the health care law, the privatization of Medicare, and a profound rollback of Medicaid spending and benefits. All of those goals are enshrined in the House Republicans’ 10-year budget plan.
“You could see the debt limit raised and the ’12 budget that Congressman Ryan’s put forward still being debated on the Hill,” Podesta said. “That’s a separate matter, and I think the President needs to be clear about his priorities and fight for them.”
White House officials are reportedly prepared to offer some concessions to the GOP in exchange for votes on increasing the debt limit. Podesta hinted that we might get a glimpse of those concessions when a bipartisan group of six senators unveil their long-term fiscal plan. But he said the ideal outcome would be a clean vote on the debt ceiling, with no policy provisions attached.
“I think that the right path forward is with a clean vote on the debt limit,” he said. “There may be related budget issues that come up that will be framed up by the Senate as well as the House.”
