Boehner came out with a new plan today and to realize it’s bad, you only need to look at two things:
- Cuts are over ten years, alternatively pronounced “will never happen.”
- “Debt Commission.” We had one of those recently with Simpson-Bowles. They came up with something of substance to everyone’s surprise (though not necessarily agreement), and were promptly tossed by Obama for it.
The House already had a plan called Cut, Cap, and Balance. It’s the only plan that could help us avoid a drop in our bond rating. But the Senate won’t pass it, and now the Republicans are so terrified that they’ll be blamed for a default that their panic is ensuring no one will go through great pains to elect them come next year.
In other news, Reid put forth his own plan which runs along the same lines. Big debt ceiling increase paired with a “bigger” set of cuts across ten years. Include some accounting gimmicks, and you have exactly the kind of smoke and mirrors Obama can use to blunt the Republican debt ceiling offensive against him when McConnell and Boehner aren’t doing it for him.
I’m not about to defend the Republicans when they fold like this, but I am going to make one point. They’re not all this way now. Some are exactly the kinds of conservatives we wanted to represent us, though those sorts are still in the minority. So come next year, instead of helping to deliver an electoral carpet bombing to the Republicans, be a little more thoughtful about your RINO hunting. Angry as you might be at all of this, be sure the politician you want to pink slip deserves it first. The small but growing group of truly conservative representatives should be supported and not thrown out with the garbage.
News links to Talking Points Memo and Hot Air. Commentary link to RedState.