(Reuters/Jim Young)
McConnell's plan is simple—rather than force Republicans to choose between their teabagging base and Wall Street masters, they lay the debt blame squarely on Obama. The teabaggers may be furious, as they want to burn down the country to "save" it from the deficit boogeyman. But is it smart politics?
Josh Marshall:
Sam Stein tweeted that while Redstate is calling for McConnell to be "burned in effigy" one "Dem source" calls McConnell's move that of an "evil genius".
Now the idea here is clear enough. All the blame for increasing the national debt falls on Democrats. But really if McConnell's gambit played out it would simply cede to Democrats the ability to govern as they think is best for the country and presumably best for them politically. If they think a serious deficit reduction plan is necessary, they can still pass it. Yes, there are some ins and outs and complications. Republicans could still raise the debt ceiling and not allow the president's party to vote its own debt reduction plan.
At the end of the day though, McConnell's "evil genius" move seems like all it does is make the Democrats go to the public with what they believe is best for the country and be accountable for it. I have a hard time seeing that as being a meaningful threat. Since that's what people who are given the power to govern are supposed to do.
That Dem source who is quaking at McConnell's "genius" is part of that insider Beltway crowd that thinks that voters give a rat's ass about the deficit.
So Republicans would get three votes to "disapprove" of Obama's debt-ceiling raising actions. Oh noes! Is that like a sternly worded letter?
Look, the Democratic stimulus package of 2009 was the largest tax cut in American history, and Republicans still accused Democrats of raising taxes in 2010. That's what Republicans do.
So the Dems could slash the deficit down to zero this year, and Republicans would STILL run around accusing them of spending too much. It's what they do. They've only got a few tricks in their bag (abortion! taxes! deficit! gay people!).
So McConnell's plan gives Republicans the ability to bash Democrats for spending, which they would do anyway, and this is a big victory for them? Genius? Hardly. This is a capitulation.
Just watching teabagger heads explode will be worth the price of admission.