Possibly the Last Opportunity to Turn Lemons Into Lemonade

My opinion is that the Republicans lost the battle for the budget because of Boehner's lack of leadership.  The only real chance we had for REAL progress, was the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, and we stopped pushing for it after it passed the house, and Senator Reid refused to allow a vote on it in the Senate.  All other budget proposals and plans, with the singular exception of Representative Paul Ryan's plan, were "feel good" plans with no guaranteed controls to insure that they would do ANYTHING, except for the IMMEDIATE raise of the debt ceiling, and stopping the crisis discussions until after the 2012 elections, which was the only real bargaining power the Republicans had, in order to negotiate guarantees for Republican inclusions in the budget.  The so called "triggers" are simply "koolaid" for the Republicans who bought into the fake "fear factor" that they have caved in to, so many times before, from the Obama Democrats.  Triggers are simple "proposals" in a bill which guarantee NOTHING!  America would have been much better off if we had held tightly to our advantage, stood behind the Cut, Cap & Balance Act, and if the Democrats refused a voto, let the Democrats cause the budget default, and take the credit for it.  This would have been the Republican guarantee to win the November 2012 elections.  This is what Obama was fearing most and why he refused any plan which did not implement stop crisis talk until PAST the 2012 election date.  But the Republicans caved in.


So now we find ourselves in a horrible situation, having agreed to a budget which fails America while promoting Obama's re-election chances.  Once this bill passes, both the budget and the November election will be out of our control, and no guarantees from either.


ENTER DICK MORRIS WITH A PLAN THAT JUST MIGHT TURN LEMONS INTO LEMONADE


"If the Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, opt for a deal with the Democrats to aim for big spending cuts, in two phases, but to raise the debt limit so it is out of the way until after the 2012 elections, how do we make Obama agree to cuts?

The current discussions focus on triggers which would automatically impose cuts in programs near and dear to both party's hearts -- Medicare for the Democrats and Defense for the Republicans -- if the spending cuts are not realized.  But these triggers mean next to nothing.  What a Congress passes, another Congress can repeal.  One can easily see Congress not coming to agreement on the second wave of cuts and then passing a resolution to suspend the trigger-mandated cuts.

The blunt fact is that once the debt limit is raised until after the election, Obama can get out of town and not worry anymore.  He won't make any cuts.  We'll get the cuts we are implementing right now -- about a trillion OVER TEN YEARS -- and no more.

But there is a trigger which can work -- the budget itself.

If the Continuing Resolution passed in the spring was battle one (which Obama won) and the debt limit was battle two (which the GOP has won), the budget for 2011-12 is battle three.

The Republicans should refuse to pass a budget but just pass a new Continuing Resolution funding the government through January 1, 2012.  If the recommendations of the spending cut commission are not passed or some other cuts have not replaced them, the House should refuse to extend the Continuing Resolution and should trigger a government shutdown.

The looming threat of a shutdown will terrify Obama and will force his hand just as the debt limit has done.

We have gotten half a loaf in this current battle over the debt.  Let's not disarm until we win the rest of it.  What we haven't gotten in the debt deal, we can get in the budget deal.

That's the trigger which will work."


Thats the ONLY trigger with any teeth!  Dick Morris returns the power back to the Republicans, ensuring the return to budget crisis discussions for almost a whole year before the 2012 elections, and offers us what might be our last opportunity to stop this madness.  Now the question is, will Boehner just see this as another OPPORTUNITY to cave in to Obama/Democrats, or will he demonstrate the cajones necessary to turn this lemon into lemonade?  At some point we MUST say NO, and Boehner seems to prefer avoiding the fight now, and putting it off for someone else to handle.  Maybe he is thinking of retirement soon, or could it be just another mistake from him and he is NOT thinking of retiring soon?  No Boehner - No brainer.  Implement this plan with him if he has the cajones, or do it without him if he does NOT.


This post was sent as a two page fax including images, to POTUS, Senators Cornyn, Hutchinson, Rubio, Snowe, McConnell, Reid, Feinstein, Reed, Murray, Representatives Boehner, Cantor, Ryan, Poe, Levin, Pelosi, and various Conservative and Liberal media outlets.

Obama's Budget - More Smoke & Mirrors

I am not a member of a Tea Party, even though I support what they are doing.  Below is an e-mail I just received from the Woodlands Texas Tea Party, which is the one I usually attend events with.  Their e-mail is concerning the BRAND NEW budget plan that Obama just pulled out of his a** an hour or so ago, and returned to both houses for another vote.  It is the same last minute smoke & mirrors plan that the Dems are trying to sneak in on the American People.

My opinion is that if they will not allow a Senate vote on the Republican Cut, Cap, & Balance plan, we should allow the default and start letting the public know that Obama & the DEMs are responsible for the default AND ANY UN-NECESSARY DECISION TO CUT ANY ESSENTIAL SERVICES!  Here is the Woodlands Tea Party e-mail about Obama's CURRENT proposal an hour or so ago:

"Once again, the debt increase occurs immediately, while cuts are pushed into the next ten years where a future Congress must show the political will to retain them.

It’s possible also that the current deal includes triggers to automatically implement across-the-board cuts that are easily gotten around:

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/07/31/open-thread-senate-to-vote-on-debt-bill-at-1-p-m-or-maybe-not/

“if Medicare’s part of the trigger, then Democrats will follow Ace’s scheme to reinstate that money later even if the GOP doesn’t try the same move for defense. (Again, they do this all the time in “doctor fix.”) And even if the GOP does try the same move, why would Democrats care? They want to protect entitlements much more passionately than they want to see the Pentagon’s budget slashed, so they’d agree to reinstate the Pentagon’s money as the price of reinstating Medicare. The fundamental problem here, as always, is that Democrats don’t care about cutting spending. If there’s nothing built into this deal that prevents reinstating the money that would be cut when the trigger kicks in — and I’m not sure how there could be procedurally — then the trigger isn’t worth much.”

Progressives in Pelosi’s caucus are unhappy with this bill. The chairmen of the Progressive Caucus and of the Congressional Black Caucus have scheduled a joint-press conference on Monday to call on President Obama to raise the debt ceiling by invoking the 14th amendment.

Our suggestion, not surprisingly, is quite different. We want to see a budget passed that nails down what is to be cut and how much in the immediate future, not 10 years off. The other side wants a simple increase in the debt limit. Take Ryan’s budget with a budget from the Senate and work it out in conference, as should be, in exchange for a debt increase.

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/04/08/wheres-the-senates-budget/
“Normally, when a House plan fails in the Senate, the Senate passes its own budget plan in response. The two chambers then form a conference committee to reach a compromise that produces a budget. However, this process requires that the Senate actually approve a budget on its own. Since voting down HR1 and the Democratic plan, the Senate hasn’t done anything — which means it has gone more than 18 months without approving a budget of some kind.

Instead of negotiating on a bipartisan basis in conference, the Senate’s failure has the Democrats and Barack Obama grandstanding in public, despite their party’s refusal to budget at all. The media has allowed this to continue rather than ask why the Senate just doesn’t pass a budget and launch a conference committee to iron out the differences. The result is this public kabuki dance in which the one chamber of Congress that actually produced a budget — and another continuing resolution — gets blamed for the lack of a budget as funding runs out, rather than the chamber that hasn’t done its job for more than 18 months, even though it has controlled all three branches of government for the last three years.”

It’s now been well over 800 days.

Here’s where things stand on the budget. The last budget actually passed was Pelosi’s and Reid’s budget running from October 1, 2009-2010. In February 2009, $400B in new spending was added to Bush’s budget of 2008-2009. This new spending included the stimulus. We are now entering Year 3 of the Pelosi Reid budget on 10-1-11. And this budget is scheduled for a second 8% increase on 10-1-11.

The House-passed Ryan budget replaces and cuts $150B from the current Pelosi Reid budget in year one. There would have to be a compromise with the Senate. What’s the compromise, $75B? Boehner’s original plan allowed for cutting only about $7B in year one.

We continue to urge Republican leadership to insist that Congress pass and the President sign a budget for 2011-2012. That Budget starts in two months. There is still time to finalize negotiations even if we push it back 30 more days. There should be no debt limit increase until the Senate and House pass a budget and it’s signed by the President. Let the Senate pass whatever they want with no filibuster. The House will meet their plan in the Conference Committee.

By the way, Greta Van Sustern just called for a 60 Day extension of the debt limit so the people, (remember them?), can find out what’s in it. We are asking for only 30 days more.

Be sure to watch this glorious video of Marco Rubio on the Senate floor yesterday, making this same case.“Compromise without solutions is a waste of time,” Marco Rubio said on the Senate floor today. Enjoy this video — be sure to catch his exchange with John Kerry:"