Boehner Tips His Hand, Hints At Deal With Democrats On Spending

To deal with the Devil you know (i.e., the Democrats) or the Devil who's ****ing insane (i.e., the radical Republican reactionaries). Choices. Choices.

Excerpted from “Boehner Tips His Hand, Hints At Deal With Democrats On Spending” Brian Beutler, TPMDC, March 16, 2011, 12:27PM
[SIZE="+2"]I[/SIZE]f Tuesday's vote had failed, it would in all likelihood have touched off a government shutdown. That's an outcome Boehner wants to avoid. But to pass the spending resolution, he couldn't rely on his caucus alone -- the 54 defectors in his caucus, who drew a line in the sand in pursuit of much more drastic cuts and far-right policy measures, meant that he needed Democratic votes to get it done.

That's a no-win situation for him. He'll have to choose between bending to the will of the right flank of his party, and precipitating a government shutdown, or cutting a deal with the White House and congressional Democrats, and further alienating his base. …

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Boehner's taking a large gamble here, and one that may very easily cost him his spot come the next election cycle. Nancy Pelosi was swept into Speaker by a wave of moderate/conservative blue dogs and then started acting squarely liberal with her post...and ultimately it helped kick her from that post. Beohner was swept in by a wave of staunch conservatives, and if he starts acting counter to that then he'll have a similar fate as Pelosi imho.

I knew Boehner didn't get it...and he doesn't. His whole line about "we have to start somewhere" is just bogus. When it is the right thing to do, it is the right thing to do. Until the US cuts spending to balance the budget, the economy will continue to sputter.

Get a rope.

Excerpted from “Boehner Tries to Serve Two Masters in Budget Deal” By CARL HULSE, The New York Times, Published: March 16, 2011
[SIZE="+2"]A[/SIZE]fter being granted three weeks to cut what has been an elusive budget deal, Speaker John A. Boehner is navigating the uncharted territory between legislative pragmatism and Tea Party zeal. …

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“Tea Party zeal,” huh. Nice way of putting it.

My sense is that Tea Party is cutting its nose off to spite its face; in this case, undermining their own Republican Speaker, forcing him to create piecemeal coalitions with moderates. Well done!

Rinos. ARRGGGHHHHH!!!

The conservative responses so far are... well, not exactly surprising, but it's still incredible to see.

And they don't even realize why.

There's a reason Congress still has low poll numbers. The Republicans/Conservatives are going alone according to their "Revolt" manifesto, but they're discovering that it won't be that easy this time around to continue their position of "Just Say NO" obstructionism. So far, the People see "more of the same," just from a different party in charge (so to speak).

If they honestly believe the People voted them into office just to slash spending "their way" and only their way, they are sadly mistaken. It's about "effective, responsible government". To achieve that, the People truly want to see Congress function properly doing the will of the People. So far, what most are coming to realize is no less able to lead or govern any more than how the Democrats were perceived to be unable to lead or govern.

In other words, it's the same old political parlor tricks and the only ones who suffer are US, The People!