Not that it matters to the handout-junkies and bureaucracy-lovers who make up the Democratic Party’s base, but the House has passed a second bill to extend the federal debt ceiling. In case you’ve forgotten, the House is controlled by the Grand Old Party of No, and the world is going to end if the debt ceiling isn’t raised by Tuesday.
Here’s the president’s Treasury Secretary on the need for an extension that runs through Obama’s reelection campaign:
“The most important thing is that we remove this threat of default from the country for the next 18 months,” Geithner said in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “You want to take this out of politics.”
Emphasis mine; this could be the Freudian slip of the year. Democrats don’t want to take the politics out of the debt ceiling fight – they want to take the debt ceiling fight out of the nation’s political conversation. Eventually, voters will realize President Obama’s fix is higher taxes, and Senator Reid’s fix is gutting the military.
Isn’t it funny how, time and again, the adults in Washington demand policies identical to the far left’s? Let’s review:
- World ends without debt ceiling increase
- House Republicans pass Cut, Cap & Balance bill
- Reid, Obama say Cut, Cap & Balance is DOA
- Obama pushes for tax hikes
- Reid suggests slashing defense spending
- House Republicans pass Budget Control Act of 2011
- Reid, Obama say Budget Control Act of 2011 is DOA
As I said this morning, compromising sucks when the other side is nuts, but this is what House Republicans have to deal with.
A debt ceiling compromise beats the prospect of a second Obama term by a landslide the size of Texas. I’m glad Congressman Stivers, my representative in the House, voted for the Budget Control Act of 2011. I’m glad Speaker Boehner, my parents’ representative, worked to create a bill the shameless demagogues in the Senate and White House might be forced to pass.
Official releases on the Budget Control Act of 2011 follow. From Stivers:
“I supported Speaker Boehner’s bill because it cuts spending and changes the way that Washington works. It puts caps on spending and moves America toward a balanced budget. A default could result in economic disaster including higher costs for car, student and business loans as well as mortgages; it could result in lower stock prices; higher gasoline and import costs and higher unemployment. This scenario is unacceptable and moving forward Members of both parties need to work together toward reaching an agreement on the debt ceiling to prevent a default.”
From Boehner:
Thanks in part to your support, this evening the House passed an important bill to cut trillions in spending and end our debt limit crisis.
It’s the second time in the last two weeks that the People’s House has spoken. Twice now, we’ve passed legislation to cut trillions in government spending, avoid a job-crushing national default, and advance the cause of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
In contrast, Washington Democrats have done nothing. They refuse to put a plan on the table. In fact, it’s been 821 days since the Democrat-run Senate has passed a budget.
Let me be clear, our bill isn’t perfect, but it’s a positive step forward, carefully negotiated in a good faith effort to find a solution to the current crisis.
Now it is time for the Senate to act. The Senate must pass the House bill and send it to the President for him to sign into law. There is no excuse for inaction.
Cross-posted at Third Base Politics and Columbus Tea Party.
