Senator Kent Conrad, D-ND (Official photo)
One of the problems Democrats face in the fight to raise the debt ceiling without attaching onerous cuts to entitlement programs is that, only 17 months ago, a whole bunch of them joined with Republicans in a threat to not raise the debt ceiling without creating a deficit commission that would make onerous cuts to entitlement programs. Yeah, that happened:
Sens. squeeze Speaker over commission
By Jared Allen and Walter Alarkon - 11/10/09 09:14 PM ET
Senators from both parties on Tuesday put new pressure on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to turn the power to trim entitlement benefits over to an independent commission.
Seven members of the Senate Budget Committee threatened during a Tuesday hearing to withhold their support for critical legislation to raise the debt ceiling if the bill calling for the creation of a bipartisan fiscal reform commission were not attached. Six others had previously made such threats, bringing the total to 13 senators drawing a hard line on the committee legislation.
“You rarely do have the leverage to make a fundamental change,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who said he hasn’t ruled out offering the independent commission legislation as an amendment to the healthcare reform bill.(…)
“There are rare moments in this institution when you can implement fundamental change,” Bayh said during Tuesday’s hearing. “This is one of them.”(…)
“While failing to increase the debt limit is not an option, the need to raise the debt limit should be accompanied by a serious discussion about possible actions we can take to deal with our fiscal challenge,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement. “Putting in place a mechanism to deal with our long-term fiscal shortfalls, as well as legislation restoring statutory pay-go, should be a part of that discussion.”
The result of this threat was the Simpson-Bowles commission:
Obama weighs creating commission to propose tax hikes, spending cuts
By Ed Henry, CNN
December 15, 2009 8:32 p.m. EST
President Obama is seriously considering an executive order to create a bipartisan commission that could weigh sweeping tax increases and spending cuts to try to slash the soaring federal deficit, CNN has learned.(…)
The Obama administration's deliberations are taking on some urgency behind closed doors because the president is facing heavy pressure from Senators Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, and Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, to appoint a commission.
Conrad and Gregg, along with a group of moderates led by Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, have been threatening to block a large increase in the nation's debt ceiling unless the president agrees to a commission.
Another result of this threat was statutory pay-go:
Gibbs: Obama Will Sign PAYGO, Debt Ceiling Increase Today
Rachel Slajda | February 12, 2010, 1:40PM
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters this afternoon that President Obama will sign a bill raising the debt ceiling and instituting PAYGO today.
Gibbs did not say whether the signing would be open to the press.
The legislation will raise the government's debt limit $1.9 trillion, to $14.3 trillion. It also re-institutes PAYGO, which requires that all legislation be paid for, either through tax increases or spending cuts.
If you are wondering why Republicans think they can win something from the White House in return for their threats to not raise the debt ceiling, look no further than the time when some center-right Democrats got something in return from the White House from their threats to not raise the debt ceiling. It happened less than a year and a half ago.
In general, there is no group that Democratic leaders cater to more than the conservative members of their own party. Further, it isn't hard to imagine that the pattern of behavior the Democratic leadership displays with ConservaDems telegraphs to Republicans how best to deal with the Democratic leadership.