"The most recent of these surveys—the CBS News/New York Times poll —reveals that a full 80 percent of the American public believes that using the threat of a government shutdown during budget debates is an unacceptable way to negotiate a deal with only 16 percent saying that all is fair in love and budget cuts. However, if holding the U.S. budget hostage as a means to do away with Obamacare is repugnant to so huge a swath of the public, wait until Americans get a load of what the House Republicans have in mind for the debt ceiling negotiations—assuming the President decides he is willing to engage in any such negotiation. As reported by the National Review, the House Appropriations Committee has drafted a bill, dated Tuesday, September 24, 2013, that would require the following things to happen as the price for extending the debt ceiling through December, 2014— Delay Obamacare for one year The adoption of the Ryan tax reform plan Approval of the Keystone XL pipeline Additional offshore oil drilling Additional drilling on federally protected lands Revised coal regulations Suspension of the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempts to regulate carbon emissions A complete overhaul of the Dodd-Frank financial regulations More Congressional power over the consumer Financial Protection Bureau by giving Congress more power of its budget Repeal of the Social Services Block Grant program Additional means-testing for Medicare Repeal of the Public Health Trust Put another way, the House Republicans have taken virtually every single item on their agenda and, if this bill gains the approval of the House GOP Caucus and Republican leadership, are preparing to declare that if the entire agenda of government these past five years is not undone—despite the fact that the very president who shepherded these items into law or regulation was re-elected to office by the American public—the United States will default on its debt obligations. Ezra Klein over at the Washington Post sums it up beautifully— “The House GOP’s debt limit bill isn’t a serious governing document. It’s not even a plausible opening bid. It’s a cry for help."
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 08:09:28 +0000
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