OK, I have had a question all day. Boehner has been claiming that the deal does not allow for tax increases to be part of the joint committee report. Obama says they are. So who is right? This is really fucking important. While I believe this bill is bad, horrific, and a major capitulation, if the joint committee can't even discuss tax increases, this rises to a whole 'nother level of shit.
So...I went to the actual bill to read the enacting legislation. To be clear, I suck at reading legalese. That is why I am posting what I found below. I want our legal eagles to let me know if I am reading this right.
First, the full text of the language is here.
Here is what I found
(d) AMENDMENT.—The joint committee bill shall not
be subject to amendment in either the House of Rep-
resentatives or the Senate.
(e) CONSIDERATION BY THE OTHER HOUSE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing the joint
committee bill, one House receives from the other a
joint committee bill—
(A) the joint committee bill of the other
House shall not be referred to a committee; and
(B) the procedure in the receiving House
shall be the same as if no joint committee bill
had been received from the other House until
the vote on passage, when the joint committee
bill received from the other House shall sup-
plant the joint committee bill of the receiving
House.
(2) REVENUE MEASURE.—This subsection shall
not apply to the House of Representatives if the
joint committee bill received from the Senate is a
revenue measure.
As I read this (And again, I suck at legalese) what this says is that the resolution of the joint committee cannot be amended, unless it is a revenue measure, and then it can be amended (ie, cut) by the house of representatives. If I am right (and I might not be) this is fucking catastrophic. This would allow for the house republicans to strip out the democratic half of the bill.
If I am right in my reading, my horror at Obama's deal will transform into rage.
9:26 AM PT: It appears that my concern was misguided (hey, I was upfront that I suck at legalese). The bolded section applies to section E, not D (the section in amendments). Thanks to those who helped me understand.