We're going to need a bigger crayon
(Larry Downing/Reuters)
Well,
that didn't last long:
A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner says House Republican leaders are working to rewrite their deficit-reduction plan after receiving an estimate that it won't cut spending as much as advertised.
Boehner had promised a package that would cut $1.2 trillion in spending over the next decade. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday the package would cut less than $1 trillion.
Boehner is already facing stiff opposition within his own party, with GOP senators actually writing to GOP House members telling them to vote the bill down. And conservative outside interest groups are furious with it as well.
Now there's not even a proposal, anymore, until Boehner's team figures out how to cut another $350 billion from it. Will that gain it more support? Probably not, because the teabagger caucus isn't interested in any deal, period. I can't think of anything Boehner can do to bring them along, unless maybe he promises to fund a conservative institute for kicking puppies or something.