We are told that all of Republican leadership in the House, Senate, and White House is in agreement—there must be a "clean" debt ceiling hike with no extraneous, poison pill attachments. Tell it to House Deputy Majority Whip Tom Cole, who is not a far-far-right Freedom Caucus maniac and who apparently didn't get the memo.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said Tuesday that he is unlikely to support a "clean" measure to increase the nation's debt limit.
Cole, like many other House Republicans, wants to include spending cuts or other language that would reduce government spending in any measure raising the government's borrowing limit.
"Most Republicans want to do something to lower the trajectory of the debt," Cole said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "I mean, a clean debt ceiling hike is like having a credit card and saying 'I've reached my limit, I'm just going to change the limit higher without changing any of my spending habits.'"
"That's a tough sell to Republicans," he added. "Democrats seem to be fine with that, but I think most of my colleagues aren't."
Now it's not just the maniacs fighting their leaders, it's the leadership fighting each other. Do they still not realize that they're the ones with the keys to the whole government?