Some classic Lindsey Graham special pleading here:
We won’t be the last political party to overplay our hand. It might happen one day on the Democratic side. And if it did, would Republicans, for the good of the country, kinda give a little? We really did go too far. We screwed up. But their response is making things worse, not better.
This is just one example – singing Amazing Grace at the caucus meeting planning the debt default. But as you survey the whole terrain of this multiheaded shutdown, ObamacareDefundo, debt default crisis, you start to see that the divide is not simply one of ideology but something more basic about the times we’re living in.
69% of self-identified Tea Party Republicans say the US “can go past the [debt default] deadline … without major economic problems.”
We have a winner. Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) is now on the record both dismissing default as overblown and touting the prospect of default as crucial leverage for the House to force the Senate to make concessions.
Nothing should surprise me with these folks. But apparently House Republicans are considering passing their bill (which is a nonstarter in the Senate and White House) and simply leaving town.
Meanwhile, Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) discusses plan to push House offer as close as possible to default deadline to maximize leverage.
With their plan dissolving this may become a moot point, but I mentioned earlier how the House GOP leadership plan unveiled this morning included a provision that would bar the Treasury Department from taking extraordinary measures to avert default whenever we approach the debt ceiling again the next time.
Enough of this skating around default — we want to feel the pain of imminent default quicker next time!
Here’s the rationale for that provision, according to the GOP’s outline of its plan:
Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner to face battery and false imprisonment charges.
A remarkable morning on Capitol Hill even by recent standards. The quick rundown is this:
The new House GOP counteroffer is already running into turbulence … in the House GOP conference.
That may be why Speaker Boehner, when he appeared before reporters just now after spending much of the morning meeting with his members, emphasized a work in progress and didn’t lay out the specifics of what the bill would include.
More soon.