Ha! McConnell & Repubs think Obama wants the SuperCommittee to Fail so NOW they want a Grand Bargain

[Pirate Smile]

They want the opposite of Pres. Obama at all times - when the President wanted a Grand Bargain, they had to kill it. Now they think the President wants the Super-Committee to fail so, of course, now they want a $4 Billion Grand Bargain.

Good Lord...

McConnell Now Wants Grand Bargain

As the super-committee charged with reducing the deficit works on a plan that both cuts at least $1.2 trillion over ten years and can pass Congress, recent shifts by Republican leadership may signal the return of the "grand bargain" that President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) had originally tried to negotiate.

Earlier reports indicate that Boehner has softened his line on tax increases in the final deal, while The Hill reports that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) "has made an about-face in recent days and now favors a huge deficit-reduction deal."

"At the beginning of this week, Senate GOP and Democratic sources said McConnell appeared to favor a $1.2 trillion package out of the deficit-reduction super-committee... A $4 trillion deal has gained more popularity in the Senate GOP conference this week as lawmakers have become convinced that Obama wants the deficit-reduction supercommittee to fail."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/11/04/mcconnell_now_wants_grand_bargain.html#disqus_thread

Some comments on that Political Wire thread:

From the article: "McConnell’s shift is significant because it could push the supercommittee to pursue an agreement that would slash trillions of dollars from the nation’s record debt levels. Such a deal could derail President Obama’s reelection strategy of criticizing what some have called a do-nothing Congress."

Wow. He'll do ANYTHING to make sure Obama is not re-elected. Even raise taxes. Even get stuff done.

[yellowcanine]

1. Be careful Mr. President. Mitch "Top Priorty is to Defeat Obama" McConnell might be playing rope a

dope. Don't trust but do verify before you make any moves. Tell Mitchy boy to produce his votes before you agree to anything.

[monmouth]

2. Norquist is not pleased with the negative light being shone on him....nt

[AtomicKitten]

3. Increasing tax revenue will never, ever pass the House Of Teabaggers.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Then they'll eat massive cuts in defense, with the admin choosing the affected districts

I'll leave them to it.

[Pirate Smile]

6. It has to get voted on. The House can't refuse to bring it to the floor and Senate Republicans can't

filibuster it so what really matters is if there is a combination of Dems & Repubs that will get it to 50%.
Geez. It is going to be crazy.

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. The defense cuts have already been voted on

They voted on the trigger provisions when they worked out the super committee back in the summer. The defense cuts go into effect immediately upon failure of the super committee.

[Pirate Smile]

12. True. I mean if they come to a deal that it has to get voted on. Boehner can't just refuse to bring

it up and McConnell can't filibuster it so all that's needed is 51 votes, not 60.

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. That's correct

The Dems are in a position of strength because the Super Committee structure was set up so that no deal was pretty much the same as a deal for the Dems, whereas no deal for the GOP really hurts their (defense industry) constituents. The R's are definitely in a bind here, as is obvious from their prattling that they will kibosh the defense cuts with new legislation (pretty much impossible), despite the fact that they not only voted on the triggers, but presented that vote as some kind of glorious victory. As the deadline looms, I think they're starting to see that they've been outsmarted on that, and it grows harder and harder to refuse tax increases with every passing day of the Occupy Wall Street protests. It's like a perfect storm, really.

[Pirate Smile]

14. If there is any deal, I hope it includes a lot of the Jobs Bill also. Dems should

really push for all of that while Republicans all of a sudden want to make a deal.

[TheWraith]

15. Half right; Congress could theoretically control what specific items get cut.

Basically the "automatic" cuts work like this: $X amount comes out of defense/homeland security (in this case $X being $600 billion); Congress is then allowed to prioritize, deciding what gets cut and what doesn't. (With the caveat that veterans benefits are exempt.) That, of course, assumes Congress can actually agree on something between the House and the Senate.

[Pirate Smile]

17. And the President doesn't veto it.

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. Well well well...

Looks to be getting interesting...

[drm604]

7. So they're giving in on tax increases

but trying to make it look like they're doing it to thwart Obama.

Am I seeing it right?

[Pirate Smile]

8. We'll see. I'd love to see them sell that to their crazies. Hell, the crazies may buy it if they

think it somehow is screwing Obama. :)

There are so many things that they have flipped on once Obama says OK - let's do it. No wonder Romney will end up being their nominee.

[TheWraith]

16. I don't believe they really will.

Even if it came out of the committee that way, I don't believe there's any way it could make it through both the House and the Senate.

[DCBob]

9. I think they are realizing that the likely end result was going to be nothing..

which will look like a victory for Obama. So now they have to eliminate that possibility. They are truly a pathetic bunch of losers.

[Pirate Smile]

10. It is truly amazing how they will flip on anything if they think it could damage President Obama.

The good of the Country? They couldn't care less.

[DCBob]

20. I hope they dont do a deal.. doing is nothing is better at the moment.

This debt issue should be tabled until after the elections and after the economy improves more.

[mikekohr]

18. THE DEBT DEAL BY THE NUMBERS

THE DEBT DEAL BY THE NUMBERS
$4 TRILLION
The amount bond rating agencies agree needs to be cut from the annual deficits over ten years to get our fiscal house in order

$3.2 TRILLION
The amount the original Republican debt reduction plan proposed.

$4.2 TRILLION
The amount President Obama countered the original Republican proposal with.
This would have consisted of a 4/1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases on the rich.

$2.2 TRILLION
The amount of debt reduction finally arrived at after the Republicans nearly drove America into default. Speaker Boehner used the Congressional Budget Office numbers as a baseline for the plan. The CBO’s numbers include the end of the George W. Bush tax give-a-ways to the rich which expire in 2012. Elimination of the Bush tax policies will cut the Federal Debt by $3.7 trillion over a decade.
In effect this works out to approximately a 1/2 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases on the rich.
Only 1% of the spending cuts come into play in 2012, the other 99% coming in the out years. Under the enforcement mechanism of the bill, Social Security, Medicare beneficiaries, food stamps and other low income programs are immune from cuts.

98%
Is what John Boehner is saying he got in this bill. If getting schooled by President Obama, and positioning the Republican Party in 2012 as the goon squad for millionaires and billionaires is what John Boehner wanted I think he actually got 100% of what he wanted.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheet-victory-bipartisan-compromise-economy-american-people

http://bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2011/08/upon-further-examination.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2021517/US-debt-deal-Obama-declares-end-tax-breaks-wealthiest-Americans.html

http://www.editedforclarity.com/2011/08/01/debt-ceiling-deal-the-devil-is-in-the-details/#disqus_thread

Postscript: Within days of approval of the debt deal compromise the S&P rating agency downgraded the United States credit rating to AA from AAA. Had the Republican leadership accepted President Obama's original plan of a $4.2 trillion reduction in the federal debt over the next decade this downgrade would have been averted.
The strangle-hold the Tea Party has over the Republican Party has in this case exposed the American taxpayer to billions of dollars in increased interest payments due to this easily predictable lowering of our credit rating.
No sane American would deliberatly poisen their personel credit rating, but the Tea Party and the lack courage and failure of leadership in the Republican Party has poisened our nation's credit and credibility, and yet again handed the bill to the next generation.

http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/2011/08/debt-deal-by-numbers.html

[Pirate Smile]

19. Good synopsis of the insanity of the Republican Party.

[Pirate Smile]

21. kick