I hear the House GOP agreed to sign off on the two-month deal. Details to come.
OK, here’s a short write-up in TIme.
What changed Boehner’s mind? Or more accurately, what changed Boehner’s mind again? The Speaker, as recently as Saturday, wanted to pass the Senate compromise and send his caucus home for the holidays. They rebelled and the leader quickly became the follower.
By some accounts, this happened again today. House Republicans —- Wisconsin’s Sean Duffy, Arkansas’ Rick Crawford, Pennsylvania’s Charlie Dent, among others — started breaking ranks after getting an earful in their local districts. GOP lawmakers who wanted to fight the Senate Braveheart-style came to the conclusion, “Maybe that Senate bill isn’t so bad after all.†When his members reversed course, the Speaker again took his cues from them, rather than the other way around.
I wonder if my computer has “Reality Check,” and not just “Spell Check” – so I’m afraid to type the word “caved” without the word “Democrats” in the same sentence.
If I typed the “R” word in the same sentence with the “c” word, I’m afraid of the consequences!
Something may blow-up, and in my position, I can’t afford a new computer.”
Agreed, Gulag. This has got to be some kind of unprecedented event. It’s interesting that it occurred on the winter solstice, a traditional time for “end of the world” predictions. Just wondering if it happened at 5:30 AM (the exact moment of the solstice?). If I wasn’t an atheist, I’d see this as divine intervention.
Well, if you’ve been following the various “End Times” predictions, you probably know that the world is definitely going to end exactly at the next winter solstice, December 21, 11:11 AM. This prediction is backed up by various wing-nut web sites (Obama is the Anti-Christ, after all), the Mayan calendar, and Jonathon Cusack in the movie “2012.” It will be interesting to see just who gets Raptured – won’t Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry be surprised when they find themselves burning in Hell?
If you saw “2012,” you know that there is a secret program to build arks in Tibet at the base of Mt Everest, to shuttle rich people to safety. Hey, I’m not too far away from Tibet – maybe I should book my flight in advance and beat the rush. Just in case.
Happy Holidays (uh oh, sounds like “War on Christmas” talk).
– Candide
I wonder when this vote will take place. My understanding is that the House adjourned for the Holidays. That aside, I wonder how the Tea Party will vote. Boehner never needed their votes to pass this – enough republicans had already seen the train wreck coming that they were committed to vote with democrats. So does the Tea Party pretend they won and vote ‘for’ or does the Tea Party make a principled stand with a ‘no’ vote on a principle they have yet to explain.
The excuse that a 2-month extension only kicks the can down the road is flimsy as tissue paper. Everyone in Congress except the Tea Party agreed this has to be done, even if they disagreed how to pay for it. Democrats wanted to lay the cost on millionaires – but they relented, laying a charge on Fannie Mae for the interim bill. Even this vanilla funding source was not acceptable to the Tea Party and nobody has explained WTF they want or what they object to.
This is a classic example of the tail trying to wag the dog. The TP is a strong faction of the House, but they don’t control the Senate, and they sure don’t have much pull in the White House. This time they were in the minority even in the House and yet they tried to force an outcome that spelled disaster for the GOP. If there was any doubt with McConnell or Boehner that they have invited a monster into the House, there is no doubt now.
I’m hoping that Cantor and the Tea Party do revolt and depose Boehner. The voters don’t see clearly – yet – how poisonous to democracy these people are. They have not shown that they are savvy enough to camouflage their objectives or methods. So hopefully, they will get the full spotlight in the election year. Cantor for Speaker!
I read that Boehner is going to ask for unanimous consent on Friday. If he doesn’t get it, he will ask for a voice vote next week. Interesting.
Making Cantor The Speaker of the House is like putting that evil clown John Wayne Gacy in charge of “Boy’s Town.”
And sadly for all of the rest of us, no one more richly deserves that fate than the current ‘crap’ of Republicans.
McConnell and Boehner are trying to save the House Teapublicans from themselves. That is what the New Republican Party is all about. It’s working really well, just look at their presidential nominees. The current president, who shouldn’t have a shot in that mythical, biblical hotspot of getting re-elected, at least looks like he’s having a fighting chance. A pretty good chance depending on who actually wins it, if you can call it actually winning. The president and Senate Dems need to do more of this if they can. Bipartisanny stuff the old hands in the Senate know will kill them in the election if they vote it down, and then jam it down the House’s throat. My Senator (if he can be called that) was one in the Senate who voted against it. Thanks Ron.