Time - With Debt Vote Looming, House GOP Tries to Repair Its Fractured Coalition

[OmahaBlueDog]

Time - Via Yahoo

There is still a sizable bloc that remains firmly opposed. Tensions flared Wednesday when it emerged that a staffer at the conservative Republican Study Committee, whose chairman, Jim Jordan, publicly opposes the Boehner bill, had circulated an e-mail to outside interest groups urging them to press vacillating members to reject the bill. Phil Gingrey, a Georgia freshman who says he will vote no, described the sentiment at the meeting as "controlled anger." An RSC spokesman released a statement apologizing for the e-mail, calling it "clearly inappropriate" and saying Jordan was not aware of it. (See "Your Bill of Rights.")

Either way, a batch of conservative groups are already vowing to target Tea Party-backed lawmakers who back Boehner's bill. Tea Party groups gathered for a "hold the line" rally near the Capitol at high noon, featuring three House Republicans who plan to vote against the plan. "While we applaud the efforts of Speaker John Boehner to salvage some small steps to fiscal responsibility, we believe his proposals lack sufficient progress in getting America's economic future on a better footing," said Sal Russo, a strategist for Tea Party Express. At a breakfast with reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, Tea Party Patriots national coordinators Jenny Beth Martin and Mark Meckler said that in an informal survey of grassroots leaders, 82% said they were dissatisfied with Boehner's stewardship of the House.

Meanwhile, as the GOP tees up a vote on the debt-ceiling bill along with a balanced-budget amendment for Thursday, Reid is lurking in the wings, waiting to see if a failed House vote clears a path for his Senate bill. The GOP's margin for error remains narrow. Now is Boehner's last chance to close that gap by convincing his party that flawed legislation is better than the alternative.

Read more at: http://news.yahoo.com/debt-vote-looming-house-gop-tries-repair-fractured-235105283.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. I wonder how many ESTABLISHMENT republicans

are having a come to Jesus moment... ah THAT IS WHY we kept the John Birch society at the baby's table... You give them a play pretend M80 and somehow they manage to get a tac nuke and codes.