The Republican Retreat - Why House GOP leaders decided to surrender on the debt ceiling—for now.

[applegrove]

The Republican Retreat

Why House GOP leaders decided to surrender on the debt ceiling—for now.

By David Weigel

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/01/house_republican_williamsburg_retreat_gop_leaders_decided_that_they_had.html

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WILLIAMSBURG, Va.—Late Friday morning, in a well-guarded room of a popular golf resort, the leadership of the Republican House of Representatives decided to delay the fiscal apocalypse. They didn’t walk over to the room of reporters covering the annual retreat; an important-looking, flag-flanked podium went sadly unused. Rep. Eric Cantor, the majority leader who represents a district just up the highway, issued a statement that buried the news in the fifth of six paragraphs.


“Next week,” said Cantor. “We will authorize a three month temporary debt limit increase to give the Senate and House time to pass a budget.”


Without action, the United States is scheduled to hit the debt limit in late February, maybe early March. Republicans were proposing something equally bland and radical. They would raise the debt limit without demanding spending cuts equal to the new borrowing authority. They would not demand a vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment, as they did in 2011, the last time we stumbled into this faux crisis.

No, all they wanted was a commitment from the Democratic Senate. The upper house had to pass a budget by the end of the grace period. If it didn’t, said Cantor, “members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job.” The 27th Amendment doesn’t let Congress cut its own pay hastily, so the money would be held in escrow, until the Senate passed something. Republicans wouldn’t demand anything in particular for that “something”—no equal cuts, no defunding of Planned Parenthood. They would just shame the Democrats, something that began quickly on Twitter with a #NoBudgetNoPay hashtag.



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[pansypoo53219]

1. isn't the budget THEIR JOB?

this ain't chicken. YOU 1st.