Republicans demanded a king-size ransom and are poised to walk away with virtually nothing.
The majority House GOP has flamed out, unable to settle on any proposal to lift the debt ceiling and avert a catastrophic default. And now, according to Senate sources, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has agreed to vote on a deal negotiated by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
They are dead. Dead. Dead. The MSM is
reporting:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and his Republican counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., were working to nail down the details of the plan through mid-morning Wednesday. Their plan was expected to reinstate government spending through mid-January and extend the debt limit through early February. Their plan also called for lawmakers to work toward agreement on an overarching budget by Dec. 13, as well as stricter income verification for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
House aides suggested that the House could work to bring up an agreement as blessed by the Senate leadership, which House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, would pass with both Democratic and Republican votes.
That move represents a concession for Boehner. Throughout the past month’s fiscal showdown, he has insisted on advancing legislation with only Republican votes – often forcing him to draft deeply conservative legislation that had no chance of passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
As in all the legislation he has managed to pass lately, Boehner has not been able to do anything without Democrats.
All they get for all their troubles (besides costing the country a million jobs) is stricter income verification for ACA subsidies, something which is probably unworkable anyway. Maybe somebody can get them a T-shirt.
And Business Insider (in addition to the WSJ) calls out the Republicans' dangerous incompetence.
Can you imagine the situation this country would be in if Republicans controlled both houses of Congress right now? Or if we had a President whose administration gets jerked around by Heritage Action in the same way that House Republicans do? It would be a trainwreck, and "reasonable" Republicans like Nunes would still be on television saying they understand it's a trainwreck, but by golly, operationally, they had no way to stop it.
The 'reasonable' John McCain is
calling on his fellow loons to admit they've lost this battle.
“It’s very, very serious,” McCain said, as quoted by the New York Times. “Republicans have to understand we have lost this battle, as I predicted weeks ago, that we would not be able to win because we were demanding something that was not achievable.”
So you knew it weeks ago - what does that say about your influence, Sen. McCain, if you couldn't do anything about it? Sorry no, you haven't lost the battle - you've lost the war. The rest of the Republican party wants nothing to do with the Tea Party either. Cut them off and let's get back to governing this country.