Byron York: GOP may use debt ceiling to force Harry Reid to pass budget

Washington Examiner ^ | Tuesday, January 8, 2013 | Byron York

[upchuck]

Tuesday marks the 1,350th day since the Senate passed a budget. ... Americans deserve to know how the government plans to spend the trillions of taxpayer dollars it collects, along with dollars it borrows at the taxpayers' expense. But Majority Leader Harry Reid, who last allowed a budget through the Senate in April 2009, has ignored the law since then.

There's no mystery why. The budget passed by large Democratic majorities in the first months of the Obama administration had hugely elevated levels of spending in it. By not passing a new spending plan since, Reid has in effect made those levels the new budgetary baseline. Congress has kept the government going with continuing resolutions based on the last budget signed into law.

... the House has passed budgets as required. Senate Democrats have been highly critical of those budgets, designed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. But under Reid's leadership, Democrats have steadfastly refused to come up with a plan of their own.

The situation is deeply frustrating for many Republicans. Sen. Jeff Sessions, ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, has conducted a virtual crusade on the issue, loudly and consistently and unsuccessfully demanding that Reid obey the law and pass a budget. Now, with a fight over the debt ceiling approaching, Sessions wants to try something new.

"I think it should be a firm principle that we should not raise the debt ceiling until we have a plan on how the new borrowed money will be spent," Sessions told me Monday in a phone conversation from his home in Alabama. "If the government wants to borrow money so it can spend more, then the government ought to tell the Congress and the American people how they will spend it."

[Cheerio]

Expect the same result for the Debt Ceiling and the March CR that you saw last week on the TAX INCREASE.

The GOP no longer can brand itself as anything different than RATlite.

[Cheerio]

With the debt limit its unclear how it plays out. Treasury decides what to fund?

I have a pretty good idea how the debt limit refusal by the GOP plays out (Bing for the links).

Harry Reid Would Back Obama If He Bucks GOP On Debt Ceiling: Source
Posted: 01/04/2013

The Debt Ceiling: Why Obama Should Just Ignore It
Matthew Zeitlin
June 24, 2011

[Cheerio]

The GOP couldn’t even force a fart... Are you kidding me? Impotent, bloated GOP... Evidence? Boehner is still the captain of the stinking ship.

TEN thumbs up for that remark. Has anyone kept a specific list - starting from Jan 2011 when the GOP took control of the House - and they started twlling us peons "This is not the battle to fight - we will give on this a little and then we have a better chance of winning on the xxxx battle down the road."

[Cheerio]

The GOP couldn’t even force a fart... Are you kidding me? Impotent, bloated GOP... Evidence? Boehner is still the captain of the stinking ship.

TEN thumbs up for that remark. Has anyone kept a specific list - starting from Jan 2011 when the GOP took control of the House - when they started telling us peasants "This is not the battle to fight. Because the GOP will be blamed we will cave on this and then we have a better chance of winning the real battle on the (fill in the blank) down the road."

Off the top of my head I can think of at least four times, probably five after last week's CAVE.

[sickoflibs]

Those lib sources you referenced suggest that O just ignore congress and debt limit law and use some loophole to continue funding spending that was already passed into law.

Right now they are all on TV using the ‘tell the GOP not to default on our debt’ lines to get as much milage out of that as they can.

Technically they have a partial point, the House while they sometimes feel its at gunpoint, passes tax and spending bills that creates or at least adds to the deficit, but they also inherit tax and spending bills from past congresses which they cannot repeal by themselves that also adds to the deficit.

In the end like the other fights this will like the others end based on which side most voters support, even if that is not a reality many here wont accept,

[Don@VB]

Has Harry Reid ever been asked why he has never submitted a budget?
It seems like someone in the press would
ask Reid or Obama.

[TexasCajun]

Boner will cave once again, that’s what he does.

[Cheerio]

O just ignore congress and debt limit law and use some loophole to continue funding spending that was already passed into law.

I was listening to Rep Campbell on talk radio last night and he stated that Congress has discovered that if they call new programs "entitlements" they are automatically funded year after year without any intervention by Congress appropriators. He had quite a list of recent laws that stuffed these programs into the "entitlement" category, and so yes the RATS are probably gonna win on this one also. The GOP is just simply not playing the same game and certainly not on the same playing field.


but they also inherit tax and spending bills from past congresses which they cannot repeal by themselves that also adds to the deficit.

The House has the absolute authority to NOT FUND anything it has the guts to stand up to the RATS on. I had thought DEFUNDING of Obamacare was the original plan put forward by the iron lady Bachman and Mark Levin?

[SueRae]

“May”? “MAY”? They damn well BETTER.If its unconstitutional, why haven’t they filed charges??? This is just NUTS that it goes unaddressed.

[Oldpuppymax]

Oh please, Byron. Republicans will do NOTHING which requires any semblance of courage or tenacity. They would MUCH prefer to knuckle under. That way the media will attack them in a “friendlier,” less destructive way!
“Out of sight, out of mind!” It’s the new motto of the GOP!

[knife6375]

HA!

[varon]

"If the government wants to borrow money so it can spend more, then the government ought to tell the Congress and the American people how they will spend it."

That should be easy enough to do and for the public to understand. The money will be spent to pay off the campaign contributors and other in kind supporters.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”The House has the absolute authority to NOT FUND anything it has the guts to stand up to the RATS on. I had thought DEFUNDING of Obamacare was the original plan put forward by the iron lady Bachman and Mark Levin? “

They passed 33 various repeal O care bills in the House last session but it didnt actually repeal it nor did it win the election for Rs. I think the Senate and WH have to go along with any bills to get into law.

The way to really repeal O care or already passed O care spending would have been to win the 2012 election, I listen to Levin from time to time (like a few minutes last night) and I think he completely misses what O knows and uses, this is a continuing battle to win over voters, in his case in swing states(and get them to vote obviously).

Given that they completely blew the election the other way to win is to get voters to be more mad at O than they are mad at Rs. Turn public opinion so much against O that most polls show that Rs are trusted more on issues than trusting him (as they were in 2010) and o will cave,.

[wildbill]

forget it. We’ll get rolled again by the use of the media by the Dems about the Reps crazy enough to stop the government and ruin the credit of the country.

This is beginning to sound like “Groundhog Day”

The Reps have to learn to fight on new ground. The continuing resolution is one weapon. Another is sequester.

[i_robot73]

No, they could have, on multiple occasions, ZERO’d out those area of the budget, passed it, handed it to the Senate and then stood firm on fiscal cliff/ceiling debate and said “When the budget we passed 3+ years ago is law, we will then continue onto the next hurdle.”

Hell, they could have 0-baselined (HA, like that’ll ever happen) or even used the last valid budget #’s. Nope, they went along w/ the party, turned up their hands and mimed ‘what are going to do?!’.

They had ALL the power, Boehner and pals bent over and waived the white flag.

[Cheerio]

They passed 33 various repeal O care bills in the House last session but it didnt actually repeal it nor did it win the election for Rs.

BUT THE HOUSE DID NOT DEFUND OBAMACARE WHEN PASSING THE CR.

[Joe Boucher]

About as much chance as me being tall dark and handsome?