Posted on 07/31/2013 7:40:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Top Republicans woke up Tuesday morning to the news that President Obama was offering what he described as a grand bargain, offering lower tax rates in exchange for closing certain loopholes for big business. GOP leaders view Obamas proposal as a regression from previous negotiations, however, and are working to swat down early press reports that describe it as a significant conciliatory gesture.
Not a bargain, let alone grand, read the first GOP press release at 9:24 a.m. from Boehner spokesman Michael Steel. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell followed about an hour later on the Senate floor, ripping the proposal and saying that even offering it was a serious blow to chances for true bipartisan action in Washington. Throughout the day, congressional Republicans nearly universally panned Obamas offer. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina laughed mockingly at the notion Obama was offering a grand bargain, telling me it was just the same old repackaged stuff coming out in another campaign speech.
But it wasnt impossible to find Republicans willing to praise the president. Senator John McCain of Arizona and his top ally, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, took a different tack from most of their colleagues. Its a good start, McCain tells me. Certainly we would not accept the presidents offer now. But we also want to continue the discussions were having, which we hope would lead to serious negotiations. Somewhat surprisingly, given that he faces reelection in 2014 in a conservative state, Graham was if anything to McCains left on the issue. Specifically, he praised the idea of new stimulus spending on infrastructure, which McCain criticized. Obamas offer is moving in the right direction, Graham says. The big challenge for us is, what do you do about long-term entitlements? That has to be addressed.
McCain and Graham are being hailed in certain quarters for providing a beleaguered president the newfound ability to pass meaningful legislation in the Senate, where the need for a 60-vote supermajority to overcome a filibuster affords the minority Republicans some leverage. The New York Times editorial board, for example, praised McCain and Grahams efforts on immigration as a welcome reacquaintance with reality for the GOP. The Washington Post praised McCain for having the courage to work out a deal on nominations with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
But many House Republicans view McCain as the most lethal threat to a significant victory on spending cuts in the budget battles this fall. The Rights worst fear about McCain is that he and five or six of his allies could sign on to a Democratic bill at the height of a debt-ceiling showdown, giving Obama and Majority Leader Harry Reid the imprimatur of bipartisanship.
The president is trying to grab a couple of Republicans in the Senate and then strike a deal with them to say, Look the Senate Republicans are rational, and the House Republicans are not, says Representative James Lankford of Oklahoma, the Republican policy chairman.
Its a scenario that has occurred repeatedly since the GOP took control of the House, most recently on immigration. At times, as with the fiscal cliff and a fight over extending the payroll tax, a bipartisan Senate bill has completely destroyed the Houses standing in the fight.
The answer House Republicans give is that this time, they dont care what the Senate does. McCain can go hang out with the president all he wants were focused on actually solving the problem, says Republican Study Committee chairman Steve Scalise. Just because the Senate does something, that doesnt mean the House will follow suit, Representative Tom Price of Georgia adds.
One factor that could ease worries in the House is that the ongoing budget negotiations between the White House, McCain, and a group of his fellow Senate Republicans are still largely focused on determining how big the deficit will be over the next 30 years, rather than on the achievable reforms that could rein it in.
Still, McCain is embracing his latest contrariness so eagerly that it has colleagues on edge.
The anger does that guy have an opinion on everything? asks one House Republican lawmaker is punctuated by the fear that no one can do anything to stop McCain.
Nobodys telling John McCain anything, says Price, lamenting the very challenging dynamic in the Senate.
McCain, who jokes openly that he is a Senate snob, certainly wont listen to the House. But many Republicans are wondering whether anyone in the party can stop McCain from helping the Democrats in the fall.
Jonathan Strong is a political reporter for National Review Online.
With these two clowns working together, disaster looms.
John “Fix the Damn Border” McPain won’t be “stopped” until his next campaign. Even then, it will only last for a few commercials during said campaign, and only apply to what he says during said campaign.
South Carolina .... Primary him! [AZ ... recall the geezer!]
Fiscal Responsibility Amendment | Tax Reform Amendment |
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Section I The power of Congress to regulate the value of the dollar is hereby repealed. Section II The value of the Dollar shall be one fifteen-hundredth avoirdupois ounce of gold of which impurities do not exceed one part per thousand. Section III To guard against Congress using its authority over weights and measures to bypass Section I, the ounce in Section II is approximately 28.3495 grams (SI). Section IV The Secretary of the Treasury shall annually report the gold physically in its possession; this report shall be publicly available. Section V The power of the Congress to assume debt is hereby restricted: the congress shall assume no debt that shall cause the total obligations of the United States to exceed one hundred ten percent of the amount last reported by the Secretary of the Treasury. Section VI Any government agent, officer, judge, justice, employee, representative, or congressman causing gold to be confiscated from a private citizen shall be tried for theft and upon convection shall: a. be removed from office (and fired, if an employee), b. forfeit all pension and retirement benefits, c. pay all legal costs, and d. restore to the bereaved twice the amount in controversy. Section VII The federal government shall assume no obligation lacking funding, neither shall it lay such obligation on any of the several States, any subdivision thereof, or any place under the jurisdiction of the United States. All unfunded liabilities heretofore assumed by the United States are void. Section VIII The federal government shall make all payments to its employees or the several states in physical gold. Misappropriation, malfeasance and/or misfeasance of funds shall be considered confiscation. |
Section I No tax, federal or state, shall ever be withheld from the wages of a worker of any citizen of either. Section II No property shall be seized for failure to pay taxes until after conviction in a jury trial; the right of the jury to nullify (and thereby forgive) this debt shall never be questioned or denied. Section III The second amendment is hereby recognized as restricting the power of taxation, both federal and state, therefore no tax (or fine) shall be laid upon munitions or the sale thereof. Section IV The seventh amendment is also hereby recognized, and nothing in this amendment shall restrict the right of a citizen to seek civil redress. Section V No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever exceed 10%. Section VI No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever apply varying rates to those in its jurisdiction. Section VII No retroactive or ex post facto tax (or fee) shall ever be valid. Section VIII The congress may not delegate the creation of any tax or fine in any way. Section IX No federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent shall ever be exempt from any tax, fine, or fee by virtue of their position. Section X Any federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent applying, attempting to apply, or otherwise causing the application of an ex post facto or retroactive law shall, upon conviction, be evicted from office and all retirement benefits forfeit. |
I posted this on an earlier thread:
“McCain is the epitome of the enemy within, a traitor to his party, a bogus maverick, conservatives in Congress should start calling him out as such.”
Everyone should be cleaning their own house, Congress is very dirty.
And as my pappy always told.
Son, whenever the RINO's and DINO's are seen working together, it means they are losing.
And their leader Obama has become such a clown, such a joke right now on the world stage, we will eventually see even more RINO's cross on over to the /other side.
John McCain is a collaborator.
I am begining to loathe the both of them...
This is probably an old rumor, but did McCain become the only POW to gain weight while he was in captivity.
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