Posted on 09/17/2013 7:31:28 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Perhaps the only war strategizing more inept than President Obama's on Syria are GOP plans for the budget hostilities this autumn. Republicans are fracturing over tactics, and even over the nature of political reality, which may let Mr. Obama outwit them like a domestic Vladimir Putin.
In our view the GOP would be less confused if more House Members appreciated the power of 218. That's the number of votes that makes a majority and it is the only true "leverage" Republicans have while Democrats hold the Senate and a Presidential veto.
The latest GOP internal dispute is over a continuing resolution to fund the government at sequester-spending levels. The current CR runs out at the end of the month, and about 40 to 50 House Republicans (out of 233) want to attach a rider that either delays or defunds the Affordable Care Act for a year and leaves everything else running.
Speaker John Boehner floated a CR with an arcane procedure that would force the Senate to take an up-or-down vote on the anti-ObamaCare component. But pressure groups like Heritage Action and the Club for Growth rebelled and the vote had to be postponed, like so many other unforced retreats this Congress. Here we go again.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Not only will they have no leverage, they will very soon afterwards have no party.
I consider a traditional Repulsican to be just slightly less septic than a liberal dim-bulb-crat.
They are the enemy.
A mortal enemy.
Well they have
Nothing to lose at this point because they have no leverage having sided with dems lo these many years
They have Boehner and Cantor and Pete Sessions trying to placate and kowtow to Obama at every turn.
In summary, the conservatives need to shut up and do what they are told. The WSJ isn’t saying that the RINOs should stand with the conservatives for the good of the party.
Boehner can be reached at: 202-225-0600; press 1 for a staffer
We The People need to help the GOP find their gonads like yesterday. Call and promise them they will be going home at the first opportunity. Then organize and make it happen.
That’s always been the problem. Democrats vote the party line and severely punish anyone who steps out of line. Republicans each individually vote for whatever they are paid to vote for.
RE: Boehner can be reached at: 202-225-0600; press 1 for a staffer
What number do we press for the Weeper of the house himself?
40 to 50 of 233 House Republicans ?
Last I heard there were ~ 16 in Senate out of the 100 Senators (47 Republicans) and they would need 51 to do anything on CR.
These type of numbers hardly scare Reid and Obama into passing a defund CR.
He may not be in as he’s out looking for his gonads, wanna bet?
The Elitists/power brokers in DC won’t talk to the common folk. They only talk to the lower class, anyone whose not in Congress or who won’t feather their nests, when they want your vote.
I guess that would be the traditional gentleman's politics, but this is not that kind of impasse. Republican leaders are still trying to make nice and the Marxists are trying to nail one of the final nails into America's coffin.
Shut the government down before it's too late.
The Republicans need to learn that they cannot hold power without the support of Conservatives.
If they can’t win the support of Conservatives, then there’s no point in them being in Congress. If they’re not going to vote our way at this point, we’re really no worse with a Democrat majority.
Last I heard there were ~ 16 in Senate out of the 100 Senators (47 Republicans) and they would need 51 to do anything on CR.
These type of numbers hardly scare Reid and Obama into passing a defund CR.
It has little to do with numbers. Reid and Obama can see Boehner/McConnell are not going to fight them. The GOP won’t even engage in a vigorous debate. That’s why they are not scared. The GOP preemptively surrenders before the battles even begin.
The Dems are implementing their agenda and laughing all the way to the bank. The beltway GOP is a herd of cats at this point and led by proven losers.
And Reid and Obama can see little GOP support in House or Senate for a shutdown to force Reid and Obama to pass and sign a defund O CR.
(assuming these numbers are correct, they are probably a bit low)
I saw the Cruz ‘don't blink’ commercials on both FNC and MSNBC’ but they don't seem to be rallying large % of GOP in congress.
But then again, they havent passed a CR to Obama yet.
What do you expect out of these GOP Reps/Senators? It’s the same clown posse that put Boehner & McConnell in charge in the first place. Risk averse, careerist types who are definitely not statesmen. So when the tan man says do nothing and wait for 2014, they are happy to go along with his tip toe to the election plan.
Yup. The 700 or so words distill down to what you said right there.
No one at all ran against Bohner back in January. A few voted for names who were not in house but that was a joke.
I figured this wasnt going to go anywhere when the supporters felt they had to say 'we don't want a shutdown' yet the whole idea was to force Obama to sign a defund bill, after forcing Reid to pass one. And what was going to force them? Fear of a shutdown.
Just like Obama uses that to scare GOP.
The 'delay' argument is much stronger than 'defund' because Obama delayed part of it already. But too many had already used the term 'defund' publicly.
This was truly a sad article to read today. I love the WSJ, but sometimes it loses its way.
We have to fight! Maybe we only pass the CR if the exchanges and individual mandated are delayed 1 year or 18 months; that would be a start; but in the interim, we need a understandable and effective plan of what we would replace it with. The link below is a 7 step proposal which is as good as any.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2534366
Repeal without a real replacement doesn’t work. Let’s delay with the CR and drum up support for a replacement. Maybe we win the Senate and have a little more leverage.
Boehner’s faults sometimes obscure his principal virtue: he responds to the will of his members. Under pressure from the GOP base, a majority of the GOP House caucus seems increasingly likely to favor a shutdown, and if that is the case, Boehner will try to unite the full GOP House membership behind such a measure even if he personally opposes it.
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