“and the speaker’s request that the individual mandate in the health care reform law be eliminated if the government could not approve all elements of the deal.”
This is the hardest thing for me to reconcile. WTF is Boehner doing? As it is if the individual mandate is declared unconstitutional, all of Obamacare could be struck down, but take it out of Obamacare and that’s not possible.
Was it a sop to Bachmann and her demand that Obamacare be repealed as part of a deal? I just don’t get it.
I do not beleive these negotiations are being done in good faith. Politically-minded people have been predicting for months that the demos want, indeed insist on, a government shutdown, so they can play it as being the repubs fault, with the media spinning it that way, of course. Same playbook as ‘95 - ‘96. Nothing new here. Nothing Boehner can do to prevent it, except cave totally, which would accomplish the same thing for the demos.
It isn’t worded well above, but as I understand it, the individual mandate would be eliminated if the cuts were not realized. Since Obamacare, and it’s individual mandate, is the jewel in Barry’s tiara, it would give incentive to follow-through with the cuts, a frequent problem with future promises.
I don’t see any method behind Boner’s madness either. If the individual mandate goes down, Obomneycare no longer can function.
Does the Speaker think he can pull a fast one on the President?