“As Ryan very clearly articulated, we're the minority in Washington, [so] how do you impact real change when you only have the House and you don't have the Senate or presidency? It's pretty hard,” the source conceded.They pretty much blew all that to shreds with their latest nonsense about withholding Congress' pay if they don't pass a budget - raising questions about whether or not that is Constitutional.
With Ryan’s conservative cache, leaders laid out a somber situation to manage expectations. That entailed telling rank-and-file Republicans no to “promise something you can't deliver on,” the source said.
But here's the really amusing part. In their statements about all this, Republicans have focused on the need for the Senate to pass a budget. But under their proposal, the House will have to pass one too. Trouble is...they can't agree on one.
But what has emerged from the House GOP retreat in Williamsburg, Virginia is that Republicans did not have an entitlement-cutting proposal to present to Obama in debt-ceiling talks, had the president ever agreed to negotiate with them. The talk about big entitlement cuts, at least in connection with a debt-ceiling agreement, was mostly talk...So the Republicans are demanding government spending cuts that can only be accomplished by trashing entitlements. But they don't have a f*cking clue about how to do that, wouldn't be able to agree on a plan if they tried, and would get killed in public opinion for the effort. How do you even think about pulling "something you can deliver on" out of that mess?
As for the actions on entitlements that might have been part of GOP demands for a debt-ceiling deal, says one participant in the Williamsburg meeting: “Long term, those have to be figured out. But my sense of that is that it is not going to happen in ten days. This is complex, important.”
Let me give you a clue Mr. Speaker...you can't. Pragmatic fail.
What i found most interesting about the GOP retreat was the fact that Cantor and not Boehner delivered the message...
ReplyDeleteI've realized what their real goal is long ago, Ms.Smartypants. They want the president to identify the cuts to entitlement programs, and when he unveils them to the public, they'll go on the attack. They've been trying to goad him into making the cuts to entitlement programs that they want for some time now. If/when he does, they'll then claim the high ground and vilify him for doing it. They're too cowardly to identify the specific cuts they want. One of them was on Fox News earlier this week, and when he was asked for specifics, he said he wouldn't give specifics because as soon as the GOPers reveal specific cuts,they'd be attacked. They play this game of wanting to cut social safety net programs, but they never want to share them with the public. I suggest that they take the entitlement cuts in the Ryan Plan, go on TV and talk about them and explain to the American people how/why these cuts would "help" them. This will probably never happen because they like doing things behind the scenes in the halls of Congress. Doing things this way allows them to deny that they are responsible for the policies they vote for. Rick Scott was a textbook example of this recently. He signed the bill that reduced the number of early voting days in FL, the result was long lines and people waiting to vote for hours, but according to him, he had nothing to do with the law that created the problems on November 6, 2012. Nope, it wasn't him.
ReplyDeleteYou're exactly right Majii!!!!
DeleteAnd that's why we have to call them out on this shit.
What strikes me about this is that it confirms my opinion that they had no concrete proposals for how they would actually implement their slogans. For the past 4 years, they've been busily using their canned talking points, and now that they're being asked for specifics, it turns out that at no time during those 4 years did they actually sit down and flesh anything out.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't just fail at pragmatism, they failed as a responsible political party.
It's time....
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/M6hB9NTYD0E
Vic78
Who cares if it's not constitutional, it's a great idea. Last time I checked we can amend the Constitution anyways.
ReplyDeletePlus you say that the Repubs couldn't agree on specifics, but didn't they pass a budget in the House in early 2012?
Glad you're so open to changing the constitution. Now...about that 2nd amendment :-)
DeleteAnd yes, the House passed Ryan's budget. Please - oh please - let them try that one again.
They might. My point is that they can agree on something.
DeleteAgreeing on something might be step one. But it doesn't mean much until they can actually deliver on something they promise. We already know that Ryan's budget is going nowhere. That's just another "fail."
DeleteHis budget is a good starting point. And hopefully the Senate can make some adjustments that can get both Houses to agree on it.
DeleteRyan's budget is a nonstarter. It's time for the GOP to get serious. They've played long enough.
DeleteVic78
Why is it a non-starter?
DeleteIt's a collection of dumbass ideas. The president is not going to allow his healthcare plan to be repealed. A healthy majority of our citizens like Medicare and they want it to be there for their children. If the plan's inacted we'll have a balanced budget by 2040. If people are bitching about the national debt now, what will it look like when the budget is finally balanced in 2040. Paul Ryan's a joke. He deserves skepticism whenever he opens his mouth.
DeleteVic78
Damn, there was supposed to be a question mark after the last 2040.
DeleteVic78
Vic - When does Obama's budget balance?
DeleteYou're trying to be funny. Everyone at this site knows where the president stands and what he has to deal with. I'm too grown to play with people online. You damn well know why a budget hasn't been passed. It's the same reason he's been understaffed and his judges haven't been appointed. You be safe, kid.
DeleteVic78
I'm being serious. Ryan's budget has lower deficits as a % of GDP 10 years from now vs. the President's plan.
Delete