Orange Man cozies up to the Blue Dogs

[marmar]

Washington Monthly via AlterNet:




Boehner Eyeing Blue Dogs For Budget Deal, But is Shutdown Inevitable?


House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has struggled for several weeks with an arithmetical problem. He could strike a budget deal that would make his own extremely conservative caucus happy, or he could strike a deal that the Senate and White House would find acceptable.

But he couldn't do both. If the Speaker went with the former, and stuck to his guns on a right-wing plan that the American mainstream would find offensive, the base would be happy but a government shutdown would be unavoidable. If Boehner went with the latter, he'd lose much of his own caucus, and would (again) need House Democrats to finalize a deal.

As of yesterday, Paul Kane reports that the Speaker is at least open to Door #2.

Having difficulty finding consensus within their own ranks, House Republican leaders have begun courting moderate Democrats on several key fiscal issues, including a deal to avoid a government shutdown at the end of next week.

The basic outline would involve more than $30 billion in cuts for the 2011 spending package, well short of the $61 billion initially demanded by freshman Republicans and other conservatives, according to senior aides in both parties. Such a deal probably would be acceptable to Senate leaders and President Obama as long as the House didn't impose funding restrictions on certain social and regulatory programs supported by Democrats, Senate and administration aides said.

The fact that Republican leaders have initiated talks with some Democrats shows some division within House Republicans just two months after taking over the House.

Ya think? ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/543415/boehner_eyeing_blue_dogs_for_budget_deal%2C_but_is_shutdown_inevitable/

[Arkana]

1. Hmmm...if Congressional Dems were smart,

this would make them harden their stance.

They're not, of course, and I know that a bunch of those Blue Dogs will vote with Republicans in the interest of "bipartisanship".

[AndyTiedye]

8. The Democratic Leadership Has No Leverage Over the "Blue Dogs"

The "Blue Dogs", aka DINOs, don't pay much attention to the party leadership,
they usually vote Republican anyway.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. New BFF's . . . . Who knew this would lead Boener to "reach across the aisle"?

If he thought he had trouble with the Tea Party before this, he will have burned his bridges hereafter.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Q'ils mangent du gateau.

[marmar]

5. Exactement, mon frere.

nt

[xchrom]

4. if it's blue dogs he's after -- i don't think he'll have to go far to cozy.

sorry -- but i have no use for blue dogs -- especially after the last two years.

[Romulox]

6. To mix a metaphor: Birds of a feather? Report for flocking. nt

[RickFromMN]

7. Be careful Blue Dogs! You're new master, Speaker Boehner, doesn't care about you.

You aren't a pure blood. You weren't born red. There's some taint of blue in your fur.

Boehner will turn on you and kick you and take away your bones, first chance he gets.

Even if you change your spots, from blue to red, he still won't trust you. Once a dog, always a dog.

Sorry...the thought of the Blue Dogs as actually being dogs, with Boehner being their capricious master,
was too much for me...I wonder if there's any political cartoons that play on these images.

I love dogs, maybe not blue dogs so much, but I don't want to see any animals suffer, even blue dogs.