Congressional Republicans are off to a good start to poke the electorate in both eyes this week. They have 2 choices: 1-raise the debt ceiling for a promise of spending cuts, major reforms, and a balanced budget amendment or 2-Refuse to raise the debt ceiling and guarantee immediate spending cuts, major reforms, and a balanced budget amendment.
Am I missing something here? Did we elected conservatives to give us promises of sweeping reform and sweeping spending cuts, or did we elect conservatives to get the job done? As an old friend of mine often says “I’ve seen this movie before”! What’s not to get?
JANUARY 15, 2011 4:00 A.M., Down for a Deal , Republicans signal they’re willing to compromise on the federal debt ceiling. from National Review
The 2010 midterms were a windfall for Republican candidates stressing the need to seriously tackle runaway federal spending and debt. In the coming months they will face their first significant test, when they are asked to raise the national debt ceiling, currently set at $14.3 trillion. One might expect that most Republicans, and especially the freshman members, would be lining up in firm opposition. Far from it.
In fact, the loudest (and, of late, the only) voices of opposition to a debt increase belong to old hands like Reps. Ron Paul (R., Texas) and Michele Bachmann (R., Minn.). Both have vigorously argued their case in the media — Bachmann is asking people to sign an online petition to urge their representatives not to increase the debt limit. Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) has also weighed in, calling on Republicans to “resist” raising the debt ceiling but stopping short of outright opposition.
Of course, it’s not as if Republicans intended to hand President Obama a free pass on raising the debt. The growing consensus within the GOP is to seek a trade-off — increasing the debt ceiling in exchange for significant spending cuts. Some have pressed for structural reforms such as a balanced-budget amendment or far-reaching entitlement reform, but few have been willing to suggest that refusing a debt increase is a viable option. As Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) told a forum at the National Press Club: “You can’t not raise the debt ceiling. . . . Just refusing to vote for it is not a strategy.” …
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